Where does “birthlessness” come from?

birthlessness (English) comes from English birthless, from English birth, from Middle English birthen, from Old English byrþen, from Proto-West Germanic burþini, from Proto-West Germanic burþī, from Proto-Germanic burþį̄, from Proto-Indo-European bʰēr- — shiny, light brown.

birthlessness (English): Absence of birth

Definitions

  1. Absence of birth

Ancestry of “birthlessness”, step by step

birthlessness traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English birthless

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbirthlessWithout a birth or births; Of mean extraction;...
2EnglishbirthThe process of childbearing; the beginning of...
3Middle Englishbirthen
4Old Englishbyrþenburden
5Proto-West Germanicburþiniburden
6Proto-West Germanicburþīburden
7Proto-Germanicburþį̄burden
8Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰēr-shiny, light brown

via English Ness

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishNessAn Ulster princess and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa and Findchoem in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide. Also the mother of Cormac Cond Longas by incest with Conchobar mac Nessa
2Middle Englishnesse
3Old Englishnæsnot, not at all; not; first/third-person singular...
4Proto-Germanicnasjąfoothill; headland; cape
5Proto-Indo-Europeannéh₂snose
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰēr-