An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/-lich

by Friedrich Kluge

-lich, adjective suffix, from Middle High German -lī̆ch, -lîch (the short vowel on account of its position in an unaccented syllable), Old High German -lîch; corresponding to Gothic -leiks, Anglo-Saxon -lîc, English -ly. Originally identical with the Old Teutonic lîka-, ‘body,’ discussed under Leichnam and gleich; Gothic waíraleiks, ‘male,’ literally ‘having a male body.’ In this manner -lîka is used in all the dialects as an adjective suffix. In some pronominal forms (solcher and welcher) the old -lîk represents a suffix corresponding to Greek -λίκος in τηλίκος, πηλίκος. See gleich and männiglich.