definition of the word -ly

• enPR: lē, IPA: /li/, SAMPA: /li/

From Old English -līċ, from Proto-Germanic *-līko- (“‘having the body or form of’”), from *līkom (“‘body’”) (whence lich). Cognate with Dutch -lijk, German -lich and Swedish -lig.

-ly

1. Used to form adjectives from nouns, the adjectives having the sense of "like or characteristic of what is denoted by the noun".

   gentlemanly

Definition from Wiktionary Content avaible with GNU Free Documentation License

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