Like

How to spell like

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce like

What does like mean?

1. verbTo find someone or something agreeable, pleasant, or satisfactory.
2. prepositionHaving the same characteristics as; similar to or in the manner of.
3. nounAn indication of approval given to online content, or a thing one favours.

Like in a sentence

• verb

  Most of the staff like the new flexible hours.

• preposition

  The fabric feels like silk against the skin.

• noun

  The post earned just one like within an hour.

• verb

  They like a strong coffee first thing in the morning.

• preposition

  She runs the office like a seasoned manager.

• noun

  The post earned one more like than the photo she had shared the day before.

Where does like come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English gelic, meaning 'similar' or 'having the same form', which in turn came from a shared Germanic ancestor that also gave Dutch 'gelijk' and German 'gleich'. The old root literally pointed to having the same body or shape, since it combined an element meaning 'with' or 'together' and 'lic', an old word for body or form. Over time the unstressed 'ge-' fell away in English, leaving the short, clean spelling we use today. The sense 'to be pleased by' grew from an older construction in which something 'liked' a person, that is, suited or pleased them, before speakers flipped the grammar so that people 'like' things. The same ancient 'lic' for body also hides inside everyday words such as 'each' and the suffix '-ly', which is why 'like' feels so deeply native to English.

How the word is built

• like (a single Old English root meaning 'similar' or 'having the same form'); no prefix or suffix