Where does “officerless” come from?

officerless (English) comes from English officer, from Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, from Latin officiārius, from French officier, from German Offizier, from Old French officer, from Medieval Latin officiarius — to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing.

officerless (English): Without an officer

Definitions

  1. Without an officer

Ancestry of “officerless”, step by step

officerless traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English officer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishofficerOne who has a position of authority in a...
2Middle EnglishofficerA hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve,...
3Anglo-Normanofficerofficer
4Latinofficiāriusofficer
5Frenchofficierto officiate; officer
6GermanOffizierofficer, commissioned officer; any chess piece...
7Old Frenchofficerofficer
8Medieval Latinofficiariusofficer
9Latinofficiumduty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory...
10Latinopificiumwork
11LatinopifexSomeone who does work (especially creative or constructive); worker, maker, framer, fabricator, workman, mechanic, artificer, craftsman, inventor, artist, artisan
12LatinOpsearth goddess, fertility deity
13Latinoscenany bird by whose song cries augurs divined...
14Latinopscen
15Latinob-towards; against
16Latinobolusobolus (Greek coin)
17Ancient Greekὀβολόςobol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and...
18Ancient Greekὀβελόςa spit, rod; a horizontal line
19Ancient Greekβέλοςmissile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly...
20Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷélHos
21Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷelH-to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing

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 gʷelH-