Where does “guileless” come from?
Guileless comes from Middle English gile combined with Old English -lēas (meaning "without"), derived from Old English lēas, which traces through Frankish wigila to Proto-Indo-European lewH-.
guileless (English): Free from guile; honest but naive
Definitions
- Free from guile; honest but naive
Ancestry of “guileless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | guile | Astuteness often marked by a certain sense of... |
| 2 | Middle English | gile | gill |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | gile | — |
| 4 | Old French | guile | trickery; deception |
| 5 | Old English | wīl | wile, trick |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wīlą | craft, deceit |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wéy- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | éǵh₂ | I |
Words derived from “guileless”