Where does “purposeless” come from?

Purposeless comes from English purposeless, deriving from Middle English purposen, Old English -lēas meaning "without," Latin pono meaning "to place," and Proto-Indo-European roots pro-, bʰuH-, per-, and pr̥tós.

purposeless (English): Without purpose

Definitions

  1. Without purpose

Ancestry of “purposeless”, step by step

purposeless traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English purpose

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpurposeAn objective to be reached; a target; an aim; a...
2Middle Englishpurposen
3Old Frenchpurposerto propose; to make a proposition
4Latinprōpōnere

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

Words derived from “purposeless

Every word from Latin prōpōnere
purposeless — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer