Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “frictionless” come from?

Frictionless combines English friction with the Middle English suffix -les, derived from Latin frictionem (act of rubbing) and Old English lēas (meaning lacking or free from), which trace to Proto-Germanic lausaz and Proto-Indo-European lewH-.

frictionless (English): Of or pertaining to lack of friction

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to lack of friction

Ancestry of “frictionless”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-lessLacking ; without . Added usually to a noun to...
2Middle English-lesLacking ; without
3Turkish-lewith, shortened form of ile; by, shortened form...
4Turkishilewith; and
5Ottoman Turkishایله—
6Old Anatolian Turkishاِیلَه—
7Proto-Turkicbilewith, together, also

Words derived from “frictionless”

  • frictionlessly
Every word from Proto-Turkic bile →