'likeable' originates from the combination of the verb 'like' and the adjectival suffix '-able' (from Latin via Old French), where 'like' ultimately comes from Old English 'līcian' and '-able' (from Latin '-abilis') meant 'able to be'.

'like' changed from Old English 'līcian' (to please) into Middle English forms such as 'liken/like' and eventually the modern English 'like'; the adjective was formed by adding the suffix '-able' to create 'likeable' (also spelled 'likable').

Initially, 'like' carried the sense 'to please' and, with the suffix, the compound originally meant 'able to be pleased by' or 'capable of being liked'; over time this became the current sense 'pleasing or attractive; easy to like'.