'babylike' originates from English, formed by combining the noun 'baby' and the suffix '-like' (meaning 'resembling' or 'having the form of').

'baby' itself comes from Middle English 'babe/baby' (imitative of baby-talk syllables), while the suffix '-like' descends from Old English 'līc' (meaning 'body, form') and developed into the adjectival suffix '-like' in Middle English; these elements combined in Modern English to form 'babylike'.

Initially the elements meant 'infant' (for 'baby') and 'form/body' (for 'līc'); over time the suffix evolved to mean 'similar to' and the compound came to mean 'resembling a baby' in the modern sense.