Where does “spineless” come from?
Spineless comes from Middle English -les and Old English -lēas (meaning "without") combined with Latin spina ("thorn or backbone"), traced through Proto-Italic speinā to Proto-Indo-European lewH-.
spineless (English): Having no spine; Cowardly; uncourageous
Definitions
- Having no spine; Cowardly; uncourageous
Ancestry of “spineless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -less | Lacking ; without . Added usually to a noun to... |
| 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 “spineless”