Where does “topless” come from?
Topless comes from Middle English -les, from Old English -lēas meaning "without," combined with top, ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic tuppaz and Proto-Indo-European roots dumb- and lewH-.
topless (English): Lacking a top; Very high, towering; Not wearing a...
Definitions
- Lacking a top; Very high, towering; Not wearing a...
Ancestry of “topless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -less | (something); without (something). Added usually to a noun to form an adjective signifying a lack of that noun |
| 2 | Middle English | -les | Lacking (something); without (something) |
| 3 | Turkish | -le | with, shortened form of ile; by, shortened form... |
| 4 | Turkish | ile | with; and |
| 5 | Ottoman Turkish | ایله | by |
| 6 | Old Anatolian Turkish | اِیلَه | — |
| 7 | Proto-Turkic | bile | with, together, also |