Where does “senselessness” come from?
Senselessness is derived from English senseless, from Old English -nes (suffix forming abstract nouns), from Old French sens, from Latin sentīre meaning to perceive or feel, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁es- meaning to be.
senselessness (English): The state of being senseless; unsense
Definitions
- The state of being senseless; unsense
Ancestry of “senselessness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | senseless | Without feeling or consciousness; deprived of... |
| 2 | English | sense | Any of the manners by which living beings... |
| 3 | Middle English | sense | — |
| 4 | Old French | sens | reason; ability to reason or think |
| 5 | Latin | sēnsus | — |
| 6 | Dutch | census | — |
| 7 | Latin | census | census, a registering of the populace and their... |
| 8 | Latin | censeo | I give an opinion; I think, suppose or judge; I... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kensēō | to give an opinion |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kensējō | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱens-éh₁-ye-ti | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱens- | to announce, to proclaim; to put in order |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱem- | to cover, conceal; hornless |