Where does “ruthlessly” come from?
Ruthlessly comes from English ruthless plus the adverbial suffix -ly, with ruthless formed from Middle English routhe (pity) plus Old English -lēas (lacking), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to break or separate.
ruthlessly (English): In a ruthless manner; with cruelty; without pity...
Definitions
- In a ruthless manner; with cruelty; without pity...
Ancestry of “ruthlessly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | ruthless | Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless |
| 2 | Middle English | reuþeles | ruthless, cruel |
| 3 | Middle English | -les | Lacking ; without |
| 4 | Turkish | -le | with, shortened form of ile; by, shortened form... |
| 5 | Turkish | ile | with; and |
| 6 | Ottoman Turkish | ایله | — |
| 7 | Old Anatolian Turkish | اِیلَه | — |
| 8 | Proto-Turkic | bile | with, together, also |