English
homeless
Homeless comes from Old English hām ‘home’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *haimaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haimaz‘home’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haim‘home’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hām‘home’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150hāmlēas
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*homlesreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1850homeless
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haimaz‘home’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haim‘home’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hām‘home’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150hāmlēas
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*homlesreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1850homeless
Earliest quotation: 1850, [Alfred, Canto XXXV: “But I should turn mine ears and hear The…”
Formed from home + -less
Proto-Germanic *haimaz ‘home, village’
Proto-West Germanic *haim ‘home’
Old English hām ‘home’
Middle English hom ‘home’
English home
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’
post, site, position, situation, positive, purpose, suppose, opponent, compound, propose, expose, impose, consolation, dispose, repository, compose, proponent, exponent, posit, expound, situate, pone, situs, 70 more
through Proto-Germanic *haimaz ‘home’
haunt, bohemian, hamlet, 11 more
through Old English hām ‘home’
Today it means
adj Lacking a permanent place of residence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *haimaz / homeless