Where does “soulless” come from?
Soulless derives from English soul combined with the suffix -less, tracing through Old English -lēas, Latin solidus, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European roots related to wholeness and binding.
soulless (English): As if without a soul; insensitive, unfeeling
Definitions
- As if without a soul; insensitive, unfeeling
Ancestry of “soulless”, step by step
soulless traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English soul
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | soul | The spirit or essence of a person usually thought... |
| 2 | Middle English | soule | A soul or spirit; an animating force |
| 3 | Middle English | sowel | Food, especially that served with bread as a side or condiment; sowl |
| 4 | Old English | sufel | anything eaten with bread, e.g. meat, vegetables,... |
| 5 | English | soufflé | A baked dish made from beaten egg whites and... |
| 6 | French | soufflé | soufflé; past participle of souffler |
| 7 | French | souffler | to blow; to blow out; to whisper |
| 8 | Old French | sofler | — |
| 9 | Latin | sufflō | to blow, puff up, inflate |
| 10 | Latin | flō | to breathe, blow |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | flāō | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₁- | to bleat; to cry; to blow |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |