English
goodless
Goodless comes from Middle English goodles ‘poor, without goods or property’, and goes back to Old English gōd.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gōd
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150gōdlēas‘without good, miserable, bad, evil’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500goodles‘poor, without goods or property’
- Englishearliest quotation 1887goodless
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gōd
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150gōdlēas‘without good, miserable, bad, evil’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500goodles‘poor, without goods or property’
- Englishearliest quotation 1887goodless
Earliest quotation: 1887, William Channing Gannett, Jenkin Lloyd Jones: “If there are souls to whom this world seems…”
Formed from good + -less
Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- ‘to unite, be associated, suit’
Proto-Germanic *gōdaz ‘good’
Proto-West Germanic *gōd ‘good’
Old English gōd ‘good’
Middle English good
English good
Linked words
through Old English gōd
Today it means
adj Without goods or property; destitute.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English gōd / goodless