English

lordless

Lordless comes from Middle English lordles ‘lordless, leaderless’, and goes back to Old English hlāford ‘lord, master of servants or slaves’.

Old Englishc. 450–1150hlāford‘lord, master of servants or slaves’
Old English, derivedc. 450–1150hlāfordlēas‘lordless, without a lord’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lordles‘lordless, leaderless’
Englishearliest quotation 1921lordless

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Old Englishc. 450–1150hlāford‘lord, master of servants or slaves’
Old English, derivedc. 450–1150hlāfordlēas‘lordless, without a lord’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lordles‘lordless, leaderless’
Englishearliest quotation 1921lordless

Earliest quotation: 1921, Anthony Pryde: “[…] whose sons, from days long before the Conquest,…”

Formed from lord + -less

Old English hlāfweard

Old English hlāford ‘lord’

Middle English lord

English lord

Linked words

through Old English hlāford ‘lord, master of servants or slaves’

lordship, 6 more

Today it means

adj Without a lord.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old English hlāford / lordless

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