"companionable, sociable, intimate," 1874, from chum (n.1) + -y (2). Related: Chumminess. Previously it was a noun, a common name for a chimney sweep, as a corruption of chinmey.
Entries linking to chummy
chum n.1
"friend, intimate companion," 1680s, originally university slang for "roommate," an alternative spelling of cham, short for chamber(mate); the formation is typical of the late-17c. fondness for clipped words. Among derived forms used 19c. were chumship; chummery "shared bachelor quarters," chummage "system of quartering more than one to a room."
-y 2
adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy). Adjectives such as hugy, vasty are artificial words that exist for the sake of poetical metrics.