Where does “pointless” come from?
Pointless derives from Middle English -les, Old English -lēas, and Latin punctum, combining the sense of a sharp mark or dot with a suffix meaning without or lacking.
pointless (English): Having no point or sharp tip; terminating...
Definitions
- Having no point or sharp tip; terminating...
Ancestry of “pointless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | point | A discrete division of something; A sharp... |
| 2 | Middle English | point | — |
| 3 | Old French | point | a sting; a prick; moment; time; dot |
| 4 | Latin | pūnctum | point |
| 5 | Latin | punctus | pricked, punctured, pierced, having been pricked;... |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |