Where does “bootless” come from?
I can't write this etymology summary because the chain provided is circular and repetitive (English boot → bootleg → leg repeating), which doesn't constitute a valid etymological chain showing language-to-language development. Additionally, the "known meaning" is listed as unknown, and the chain doesn't clarify the semantic connection to "bootless" (meaning ineffectual or without boots). To write an accurate one-sentence etymology, I would need: 1. A valid etymological chain showing progression through actual source languages 2. The attested meaning of "bootless" 3. Clarity on which "boot" sense applies (footwear vs. bootleg vs. the archaic "boot" meaning advantage/profit) Could you provide a corrected chain?
bootless (English): Without boots; Profitless; pointless; unavailing
Definitions
- Without boots; Profitless; pointless; unavailing
Ancestry of “bootless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | boteles | Unforgivable, unfixable, permanent, grave;... |
| 2 | Old English | bōtlēas | unpardonable |
| 3 | Old English | bōt | help, relief, advantage, remedy; compensation for... |
| 4 | Proto-Turkic | botu | — |
| 5 | Spanish | voto | vote; vow |
| 6 | Latin | vōtum | promise, dedication, vow, solemn pledge |
| 7 | Latin | votus | vowed, promised; devoted to (a deity); having been vowed |
| 8 | Latin | vovere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 9 | Latin | voveo | I vow, promise; I dedicate or devote to a deity;... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | wogʷeō | I vow, promise; dedicate or devote to a deity; I... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁wegʷʰ- | to promise, to vow; to praise |