livelily (adv.)

Old English liflic "living, existing," literally "life-like;" from life + -ly (2). The main modern sense of "active, energetic" developed by early 13c., from notion "full of life." For "full of life, vigorous," Old English had liffæst. The adverb is Old English liflice "vitally," from the adjective. Related: Liveliness.

common adverbial suffix, forming from adjectives adverbs signifying "in a manner denoted by" the adjective, Middle English, from Old English -lice, from Proto-Germanic *-liko- (cognates: Old Frisian -like, Old Saxon -liko, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -licho, German -lich, Old Norse -liga, Gothic -leiko); see -ly (1). Cognate with lich, and identical with like (adj.).

Weekley notes as "curious" that Germanic uses a word essentially meaning "body" for the adverbial formation, while Romanic uses one meaning "mind" (as in French constamment from Latin constanti mente). The modern English form emerged in late Middle English, probably from influence of Old Norse -liga.