-less | Meaning Of Suffix -less By Etymonline

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Origin and history of -less

-less

word-forming element meaning "lacking, cannot be, does not," from Old English -leas, from leas "free (from), devoid (of), false, feigned," from Proto-Germanic *lausaz (cognates: Dutch -loos, German -los "-less," Old Norse lauss "loose, free, vacant, dissolute," Middle Dutch los, German los "loose, free," Gothic laus "empty, vain"), from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart." Related to loose and lease.

Entries linking to -less

lease(n.)

late 14c., "legal contract conveying property, usually for a fixed period of time and with a fixed compensation," from Anglo-French les (late 13c.), Old French lais, lez "a lease, a letting, a leaving," verbal noun from Old French laissier "to let, allow, permit; bequeath, leave" (see lease (v.)). Figuratively from 1580s, especially of life. Modern French equivalent legs is altered by erroneous derivation from Latin legatum "bequest, legacy."

loose(adj.)

early 13c., lous, loos, lowse, "not securely fixed;" c. 1300, "unbound, not confined," from Old Norse lauss "loose, free, unencumbered; vacant; dissolute," cognate with Old English leas "devoid of, false, feigned, incorrect" (source of -less) from Proto-Germanic *lausaz (source also of Danish løs "loose, untied," Swedish lös "loose, movable, detached," Middle Dutch, German los "loose, free," Gothic laus "empty, vain"), from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart."

Meaning "not clinging, slack" (of clothes, etc.) is from mid-15c. Meaning "not bundled" is from late 15c. Sense of "unchaste, immoral" ("lax in conduct, free from moral restraint") is recorded from late 15c. Meaning "at liberty, free from obligation" is 1550s. Sense of "rambling, disconnected" is from 1680s. As an adverb, "loosely," from 1590s. A loose end was an extremity of string, etc., left hanging; hence something unfinished, undecided, unguarded (1540s); to be at loose ends is from 1807. Phrase on the loose "free, unrestrained" is from 1749 (upon the loose). Colloquial hang loose is from 1968.

• ageless
• aimless
• answerless
• armless
• artless
• backless
• baseless
• beardless
• beltless
• blameless
• bloodless
• bodiless
• boneless
• bootless
• bottomless
• boundless
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• See All Related Words (234)

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decreaseearly 15c., decresen (intransitive) "become less, be diminished gradually," from Anglo-French decreiss-, present-participle...stem of decreistre, Old French descroistre (12c., Modern French décroître), from Latin decrescere "to grow less, diminish...Transitive sense of "make less, lessen" is from late 15c. Related: Decreased; decreasing....relaxlate 14c., relaxen, "to make (something) less compact or dense" (transitive), originally especially in medicine, of muscles...From 1660s as "to make less severe or rigorous."...Intransitive sense of "become loose or languid" is by 1762; that of "become less tense" is recorded from 1935....Of persons, "to become less formal," by 1837. Related: Relaxed; relaxing....minorearly 13c., in frere menour "Franciscan friar," literally "minor friar," from Latin minor "less, lesser, smaller, junior,..." figuratively "inferior, less important," which was formed as a masculine/feminine form of minus on the mistaken assumption...In some cases the English word is from Old French menor "less, smaller, lower; underage, younger," from Latin minor....Meaning "lesser or smaller (than the other)" in English is from early 15c.; that of "comparatively less important" is from...lectio difficiliortextual reconstruction (of the Bible, etc.) the rule that, of two alternative manuscript readings, the one whose meaning is less...obvious is less likely to be a copyist's alteration, and therefore should be given precedence....minusculeFrench minuscule (17c.), from Latin minuscula, in minuscula littera "slightly smaller letter," fem. of minusculus "rather less..., rather small," diminutive of minus "less" (from PIE root *mei- (2) "small")....darkenMeanings "grow less white or clear, turn a darker color" and "render less white or clear" are from late 14c....moor"tract of open, untilled, more or less elevated ground, often overrun with heath," c. 1200, from Old English mor "morass,...The basic sense in place names is 'marsh', a kind of low-lying wetland possibly regarded as less fertile than mersc 'marsh...diseaseearly 14c., "discomfort, inconvenience, distress, trouble," from Old French desaise "lack, want; discomfort, distress; trouble, misfortune; disease, sickness," from des- "without, away" (see dis-) + aise "ease" (see ease (n.)). Restricted pathological sense of "sickness, illness"syncope1520s, "contraction of a word by omission of middle sounds or letters," from Latin syncope "contraction of a word by elision," from Greek synkopē "contraction of a word," literally "a cutting off, cutting up, cutting short," from synkoptein "to cut up." This is from syn- "togetheprecipitationlate 15c., precipitacioun, "a casting down" (of the evil angels from heaven), also, in alchemy "separation of a solid substance from a solution," from Old French precipitation (15c.) and directly from Latin praecipitationem (nominative praecipitatio) "act or fact of falling headl

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/-lessCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/-less">Etymology of -less by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of -less. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/-lessCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of -less," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed March 10, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-less.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of -less." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-less. Accessed 10 March, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of -less." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/-less (accessed March 10, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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