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”).
He may either go or stay, as he best likes.1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 21:
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Archaic To please (same meaning as above but with subject and object reversed).
I willingly confess that it likes me much better when I find virtue in a fair lodging than when I am bound to seek it in an ill-favoured creature.16th century, Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia:
His countenance likes me not.1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 2, scene 2:
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Obsolete To derive pleasure [with of or by or with ‘from someone or something’].
And therefore it is the best way, if you like of it, to examine these taken from experiments touching the Earth, and then proceed to those of the other kind.1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Systems of the World, (Dialogue Two):
He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:
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To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.
I like to go to the dentist every six months.
She likes to keep herself physically fit.
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We like to keep one around the office just in case.
People in Washington like to work out!2016, VOA Learning English (public domain):
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To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.
I really like Sandra but don't know how to tell her.
― Enju: “Apparently when you like someone, you start talking like them.”2016 December 19, Moe! Ninja Girls, Japan: NTT Solmare, iOS, Android, scene: Season 1, Enju Ending:
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I was dating someone I liked, but not enough to marry.2026 April 22, Jillian Sanders, “The Danger of Surrendering Your Financial Independence in a Relationship”, in TIME, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2026:
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To want, desire. See also would like.
With 'would' and in certain other phrases
Would you like a cigarette?
We could go to the museum if you like.
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May I leave now? ~ If you like.
I don't like to disturb him when he's working.
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Internet To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.
I liked my friend's last status on Facebook.
I can't stand Bloggs' tomato ketchup, but I liked it on Facebook so I could enter a competition.
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What' up, y'all? I'm the last man on Earth. Shit's all fucked up. Don't forget to like and subscribe. We out here.2021, Adam McKay, Don't Look Up, spoken by Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill):
Too bad this cheese likes to stick to the pan and ruin the whole meal.
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Informal, In the negative Of a computer or other system: to tolerate as an input; to accept.
This self-service checkout doesn't seem to like my credit card.
We were frustrated that our seeming innocent choice for a team name was rejected by the game. Apparently somewhere in the name is a word that the algorithm doesn’t like.
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email delivery failed: remote host does not like recipient
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Archaic To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
He liked to have been too late.
He probably got his death, as he liked to have done two years ago, by viewing the troops for the expedition from the wall of Kensington Garden.1760, Horace Walpole, The Letters of Horace Walpole: Fourth Earl of Oxford, to George Montagu:
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Obsolete To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
You like well, and bear your years very well.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
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”).
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In plural Something that a person likes (prefers).
Tell me your likes and dislikes.
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Internet An individual vote showing support for, approval of, or enjoyment of, something posted on the Internet.
Social media is supervisual, and there's nothing more shareable than images, so this is a way to increase shares and likes and follows.2016, Brooke Warner, Green-Light Your Book:
Dress for myself, I don't dress for hype / I dress for myself, you dress for the likes2019, “Balenciaga”, performed by Princess Nokia:
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Likes are the social media currency undergirding an entire influencer economy, inspiring a million Kardashian wannabes and giving many of us regular people daily endorphin hits.2020 January 17, Amy Chozick, “This Is the Guy Who’s Taking Away the Likes”, in New York Times:
Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).
1
Similar.
My partner and I have like minds.
The two cats were as like as though they had come from the same litter.
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This apology was made after Hunt's death, and mentioned a revision of the first sketch, so as to render it less like, at the suggestion of two other friends of Hunt. The friends were Procter (Barry Cornwall) and myself; the feeling having been mine from the first that the likeness was too like.1872, John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens:
It will seem strange that in all this time the Presbytery was idle, and no effort was made to rid the place of so fell an influence. But there was a reason, and the reason, as in most like cases, was a lassie.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
[…]and this is not a sky, it is a Soul and living Face! Nothing liker the Temple of the Highest, bright with some real effulgence of the Highest, is seen in this world.1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. 3, Landlord Edmund”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk):
I opened the man's linen robe, and there over his heart was a dagger-wound, and beneath the woman's fair breast was a like cruel stab, through which her life had ebbed away.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.1668, Robert South, The Messiah's Sufferings for the Sins of the People (sermon, March 20, 1668)
Many were […] not easy to be govern'd, nor like to conform themselves to such strict rules.1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater:
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Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our Sprit-ſail, and ſtood by to hand the Fore-ſail; but making foul Weather, we look'd the Guns were all faſt, and handed the Miſſen.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page 151:
She had waited overlong, and now it was like that Ailie would escape her toils.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).
DON PEDRO. May be she doth but counterfeit. CLAUDIO. Faith, like enough.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
“You'll try it, some day, like enough; but you'll get tired of the change pretty soon.” “Why?” “Well, I'll tell you. Now you've always been a sailor; did you ever try some other business?”1909, Mark Twain, Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven:
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If I can't spare the time—well, like as not we go anyhow. And where else can you ride all day with your saddle and neck full of snow brushed from the trees and still not freeze half to death?1936, New Mexico: The Sunshine State's Recreational and Highway Magazine:
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 103:13:
like
conj
Etymology
Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).
1966, Advertising slogan for Winston cigarettes Winston tastes good like a cigarette should
But if you do right to me, baby I’ll do right to you, too Ya got to do unto others Like you’d have them, like you’d have them, do unto you1978, Bob Dylan, Do Unto Others:
Why don’t we do something useful like clean the kitchen?
He didn’t have many friends, it didn’t seem like.
A too skinny white girl, dressed like some kind of teen-ager although she had to be thirty, with one of those fake white-girl smiles stuck on her face like with scotch tape.1981 February 14, Andrea Loewenstein, “Voices in the Night”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 8:
Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).
Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
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Typical of.
It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.
3
Approximating.
Popcorn costs something like 10 dollars at the movies.
4
In the manner of, similarly to.
He doesn't act like a president.
5
Such as; including.
It's for websites like Wikipedia.
In Mars's office, near his own impressive executive desk (a Vladimir Kagan), hangs a mixed media artwork depicting legendary MCs like Queen Latifah, Slick Rick, Rakim, and Nas (a business partner of Mars's).2026 May 23, Lola Ogunnaike, “Major Drama”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, pages 114-115:
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As if there would be.
It looks like a hot summer in Europe.
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Used to ask for a description or opinion of someone or something.
I hear she has a new boyfriend. What's he like? –He's intelligent and handsome.
Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).
Colloquial Indicating approximation or uncertainty.
There were, like, twenty of them.
[Sally Brown:] Christmas is getting all you can get while the getting is good. [Charlie Brown:] GIVING! The only real joy is GIVING! [Sally Brown, rolling her eyes:] Like, wow!1972 December 1, Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts:
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"She's like brand new."1980, Richard Louis Newmann, Siege of Orbitor, page xiii. 68:
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Colloquial Used to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase or an expression of something that happened.
I was like, “Why did you do that?” and he's like, “I don't know.”
A customer walked in like, "I demand to see the manager!"
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You're just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue, They're like, "Alright" What ya saying, "Yeah can I take your digits?" And you're like, "no not in a million years, you're nasty please leave me alone."2006, Lily Allen, Knock 'Em Out:
'It made this sky ripping noise, and then went like “bang”, real hard into the ground. A long way away but.'2014, Geoffrey Riddell, The Fly-ahead Boy, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 108:
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Colloquial A discourse marker used to highlight or put focus on new information or a new development in a story.
She was, like, sooooo happy.
And then he, like, got all angry and left the room.
Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).
1
Sometimes, As the likes of Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like.
This is something the likes of which I've never seen before, and we should compare like with like instead.
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"Such things do happen and centre round the wicked medium. You can get down into a region which is akin to the popular idea of witchcraft, it is dishonest to deny it." "Like attracts like," explained Mrs. Mailey[.]1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
1935, Winston Churchill on T.E. Lawrence We shall never see his like again.
It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July the 26th was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this Earth.1945 August 6, Harry S. Truman, 01:49 from the start, in VT2008-9-2 President Truman Announces Bombing of Hiroshima, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 23630, archived from the original on 02 Nov 2021:
In fact it would be fair to say that he had reached a level of annoyance the like of which had never been seen in the Universe.1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 93:
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Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.
He probably got his death, as he liked to have done two years ago, by viewing the troops for the expedition, from the wall of Kensington garden.1837, Earl of Orford Walpole (Horace), Correspondence with George Montagu: