Where does “blameless” come from?
Blameless comes from Middle English blameles, formed with the Old English suffix -lēas (meaning "without") added to a stem ultimately derived from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω.
blameless (English): Free from blame; without fault; innocent; Not...
Definitions
- Free from blame; without fault; innocent; Not...
Ancestry of “blameless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | blameles | blameless, innocent; perfect, faultless |
| 2 | Middle English | blamen | to criticise, censure; to reprove, reprimand; to... |
| 3 | Old French | blasmer | to blame |
| 4 | Latin | blastēmāre | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | βλασφημέω | I speak profanely of sacred things, blaspheme; I... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | βλάσφημος | uttering ill-omened words; jinx; reviling,... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | φήμη | prophetic voice, oracle; rumor; reputation |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | pʰā́mā | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂-meh₂ | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂- | to shine, glow light; to speak, say |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂-s-ri- | — |