English
rudderlessly
Rudderlessly comes from English rudderless.
- English1500–presentrudderless
- Englishearliest quotation 2007rudderlessly
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- English1500–presentrudderless
- Englishearliest quotation 2007rudderlessly
Earliest quotation: 2007, Carol Pinchefsky, ‘La Bohème’ Is Romantic, as Long as I’m Not the Star: “He lived rudderlessly, without ambition.”
A compound of rudderless + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- ‘to row’
…
Proto-West Germanic *rōþr ‘rudder’
Old English rōþor ‘rudder, scull’
Middle English rother ‘a rudder or till’
English rudder
English rudderless
Every English word from English rudderless
Today it means
adv In a rudderless way.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English rudderless / rudderlessly