Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fatherless” come from?

Fatherless comes from Middle English faderles, from Old English fæderlēas, from Proto-Germanic fadērlausaz, meaning without a father.

fatherless (English): Without a father; Without a known author or...

Definitions

  1. Without a father; Without a known author or...

Ancestry of “fatherless”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishfaderlesLacking or without a living/active father or male...
2Old Englishfæderlēas—
3Proto-Germanicfadērlausaz—

Words derived from “fatherless”

  • fatherlessness
Every word from Proto-Germanic fadērlausaz →