like

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a similar kind; ,
  2. noun a kind of person
  3. verb prefer or wish to do something

Etymology

Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian (“to like, to please”), from Proto-West Germanic *līkēn, from Proto-Germanic *līkāną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image; likeness; similarity”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian liekje (“to be similar, resemble”), West Frisian lykje (“to seem, appear, look”), Dutch lijken (“to seem”), Low German lieken (“to be like; resemble”), German gleichen (“to resemble”), Swedish lika (“to like; put up with; align with”), Norwegian like (“to like”), Icelandic and Faroese líka (“to like”). Noun from Middle English like (“pleasure, will, like”), from the verb Middle English liken (“to like”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

the like, the likes of

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