Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “dreadless” come from?

dreadless (English) comes from Middle English dredles, from Middle English dred, from Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan, from Old English ondrǣdan, from Proto-West Germanic andarādan, from Proto-West Germanic anda-, from Proto-Germanic anda- — on, onto.

dreadless (English): Feeling no dread or fear; unafraid; Exempt from...

Definitions

  1. Feeling no dread or fear; unafraid; Exempt from...

Ancestry of “dreadless”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishdredles—
2Middle Englishdred—
3Middle Englishdreden—
4Old Englishdrǣdanto fear, dread
5Old Englishondrǣdanto fear, dread
6Proto-West Germanicandarādanto be afraid, fear; to be in awe
7Proto-West Germanicanda-against, opposing; in return, back; facing,...
8Proto-Germanicanda-against, opposing; un-, de-
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntiopposite; near; in front
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntsforehead; front
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ent-face; forehead; front
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂en-on, onto

Words derived from “dreadless”

  • dreadlessly
  • dreadlessness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂en- →