Where does “mastless” come from?

mastless (English) comes from English Mast, from French masse, from Old French mace, from Vulgar Latin mattia, from Latin mateola, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

mastless (English): Without a mast; Bearing no mast

Definitions

  1. Without a mast; Bearing no mast

Ancestry of “mastless”, step by step

mastless traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Mast

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishMast
2Frenchmassea paste, a dough; large amount or quantity of...
3Old Frenchmacemace weapon
4Vulgar Latinmattia
5LatinmateolaThe meaning of this term is uncertain....
6Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
7Proto-Italic-olos
8Proto-Italic-elosForms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns
9Proto-Indo-European-e-lós
10Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

via English less

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishlessTo a smaller extent or degree; comparative form...
2Middle Englishlesfalse; lying; deceptive; falsehood; a lie
3Old Englishlēasfalse, lax; false, void, loose; devoid of, loose...
4Proto-Germanic*laus
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós
mastless — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer