Where does “countless” come from?
Countless derives from Middle English -les (suffix meaning without) added to Anglo-Norman conte, from Latin comitatus (retinue, office of a companion), itself from comes (companion, attendant), rooted in Latin com- (with, together).
countless (English): Too many to count; innumerable or incalculable
Definitions
- Too many to count; innumerable or incalculable
Ancestry of “countless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | count | To recite numbers in sequence; To determine the... |
| 2 | Middle English | counten | To count enumerate; give the number of |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | conter | to tell; to say; to recount; to add up |
| 4 | Old French | conter | to tell; to say; to recount; to add up |
| 5 | Latin | computō | to calculate, compute, reckon together |
| 6 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 7 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 8 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 9 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |