Where does “trackless” come from?
Trackless comes from Old English -lēas, a suffix meaning without, combined with Middle English track, which derives from Old Dutch trecken, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dreg- meaning to draw or pull.
trackless (English): Not having tracks or paths; untrodden; Not...
Definitions
- Not having tracks or paths; untrodden; Not...
Ancestry of “trackless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | track | A mark left by something that has passed along; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | trak | — |
| 3 | Old French | trac | track of horses, trail, trace; track; a track,... |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | treck | — |
| 5 | Old Dutch | trecken | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | *trakkjan | to drag |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | trakjaną | to drag |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 11 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |