Where does “ruthless” come from?
Ruthless comes from Middle English reuþeles, formed with the Middle English suffix -les (from Old English -lēas), attached to Middle English reuþe (from Latin ruta), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewH-.
ruthless (English): Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless
Definitions
- Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless
Ancestry of “ruthless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | reuþeles | ruthless, cruel |
| 2 | Middle English | -les | Lacking ; without |
| 3 | Turkish | -le | with, shortened form of ile; by, shortened form... |
| 4 | Turkish | ile | with; and |
| 5 | Ottoman Turkish | ایله | — |
| 6 | Old Anatolian Turkish | اِیلَه | — |
| 7 | Proto-Turkic | bile | with, together, also |
Words derived from “ruthless”