-lich

See also: lich, Lich, and lịch

German

Alternative forms
  • -licht (nowadays uncommon)

Etymology

Adjective: From Middle High German -lich, -līch, from Old High German -līh, from Proto-West Germanic *-līk. Cognate with English -ly and Dutch -lijk.[1]

Adverb: From Middle High German -līche, from Old High German -līhho.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /lɪç/
  • Audio(file)

Suffix

-lich

  1. Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "something can be done with the person or thing described".
    ‎verstehen (“to understand”) + ‎-lich → ‎verständlich (“that can be understood, understandable”)
  2. Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "that the person or thing described does something".
    ‎sterben (“to die”) + ‎-lich → ‎sterblich (“that dies, mortal”)
  3. Used to form adjectives from nouns, to indicate "affiliation".
    ‎Abenteuer (“adventure”) + ‎-lich → ‎abenteuerlich (“associated with adventure, adventurous”)
  4. Used to form adjectives from nouns (times), to indicate "repetition".
    ‎Jahr (“year”) + ‎-lich → ‎jährlich (“repeated every year, annually”)
  5. Used to form adjectives from adjectives, to expresses "a weakening or differentiation".
    ‎rot (“red”) + ‎-lich → ‎rötlich (“having a somewhat red coloring, reddish”)

Derived terms
German terms suffixed with -lich

References
  1. Friedrich Kluge (1989), “-lich”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Middle English

Suffix

-lich

  1. Alternative form of -ly (“adjectival suffix”)

Suffix

-lich

  1. Alternative form of -ly (“adverbial suffix”)
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