Etymology

sickly

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Today it means: Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly. Full definition →

Middle English seekly ← Old English sīcle ← Old Norse sjúkligr
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sickly · adjective, verb1

  1. Old Norse · derived fromsjúkligr“sickly”
  2. Old English · derived fromsīcle“sickly”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromseekly
  4. English todaysickly

From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle (“sickly”) and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr (“sickly”). Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich, Danish sygelig, Swedish sjuklig, Icelandic sjúklegur. The verb is from the adjective.

sickly · adverb2

From sick + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.