Likelihood

How to spell likelihood

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce likelihood

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does likelihood mean?

1. nounThe chance or probability that something will happen or is true.

Likelihood in a sentence

• The report assessed the likelihood of a recession next year.

• There is a strong likelihood that the meeting will be postponed.

Where does likelihood come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built from native English roots and means literally 'the state of being likely'. The base 'likely' grew from the Old English 'gelic', meaning 'similar' or 'alike', which gave the sense of something that resembles the truth and is therefore probable. To this the suffix '-hood' was added, descended from the Old English 'had', a word that once meant 'condition', 'rank', or 'state of being', the same element seen in 'childhood', 'neighbourhood', and 'falsehood'. The compound 'likelihood' appears in English from the late 1300s, originally carrying a sense closer to 'suitability' or 'aptness' before settling into its modern meaning of probability. The spelling trap lies in the middle: the 'li' of 'likely' is followed by 'hood', so writers must remember the 'e' is dropped from 'like' and the 'li' sits before 'hood', giving 'likeli-hood' rather than 'likely-hood'.

How the word is built

• like (resembling, probable)
• -ly (adjective suffix giving 'likely')
• -hood (state or condition)