Where does “pencilless” come from?

pencilless (English) comes from English pencil, from Old French pincil, from Latin pēniculus, from Latin -culus, from Proto-Italic *-kelos — Diminutive suffix.

pencilless (English): Without a pencil

Definitions

  1. Without a pencil

Ancestry of “pencilless”, step by step

pencilless traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English pencil

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpencilA paintbrush
2Old Frenchpincil—
3Latinpēniculus—
4Latin-culusAlternative form of -ulus; added to a noun to...
5Proto-Italic*-kelosDiminutive suffix

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-Italic *-kelos →Every word from Latin -culus →Every word from Latin pēniculus →