likely Look up likely at Dictionary.com
c.1300, perhaps from O.N. likligr "likely," from likr "like" (adj.). O.E. had cognate geliclic. Meaning "having the appearance of being strong and capable" is from mid-15c., though now mostly confined to Amer.Eng. Sense of "good-looking" is from 1470. Meaning "probably" is attested from late 14c., now principally in Amer.Eng.