-les

See also: Appendix:Variations of "les"

Middle English

Alternative forms

-las, -lasse, -læs, -leas, -lease, -leæs, -lese, -lesse, -lez, -lies, -liese, -lis, -lise, -lyas, -lyese

Etymology

Inherited from Old English -lēas (“-less”) (akin to lēas (“devoid of, loose from, false”)), from Proto-West Germanic *-laus, from Proto-Germanic *-lausaz, from *lausaz (“loose”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-lɛːs/, /-lɛs/

Suffix

-les

Lacking (something); without (something).

Usage notes

-les and its variants are affixed to nouns in order to form adjectives denoting absence of that noun.

Derived terms

Middle English terms suffixed with -les

Derived terms

armles
bonles
catelles
causeles
childrenles
cloudeles
comfortles
defautles
drinkeles
fereles
fleshles
groundles
harmles
havenles
husbondles
witles

Descendants

English: -less
Scots: -less

References

“-lē̆s, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 6 April 2018.

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