Where does “starless” come from?
Starless derives from Middle English sterreles, meaning without stars.
starless (English): without visible stars
Definitions
- without visible stars
Ancestry of “starless”, step by step
starless traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English star
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | star | Any small luminous dot appearing in the cloudless... |
| 2 | Middle English | sterre | star |
| 3 | Old English | steorra | star |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | sterrō | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | sternô | star |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂stḗr | star |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eHs- | to be/become dry; to burn, to glow; hearth |
via English less
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | less | To a smaller extent or degree; comparative form... |
| 2 | Middle English | les | false; lying; deceptive; falsehood; a lie |
| 3 | Old English | lēas | false, lax; false, void, loose; devoid of, loose... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *laus | — |
via Middle English sterreles
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sterreles | — |