Where does “uselessness” come from?
Uselessness derives from English use plus the Old English suffix -nes, ultimately from Latin uti meaning to use, traced to Proto-Indo-European h₃eyt-.
uselessness (English): the quality of being useless
Definitions
- the quality of being useless
Ancestry of “uselessness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | useless | Without use or possibility to be used; Unhelpful,... |
| 2 | English | use | The act of using; The act of consuming alcohol or... |
| 3 | Middle English | use | — |
| 4 | Old French | us | tradition or custom |
| 5 | Latin | ūsus | — |
| 6 | Latin | ūtor | — |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | *ǫtorъ | — |
| 8 | Proto-Slavic | torъ | — |
| 9 | Proto-Slavic | terti | to rub, to scrape; to polish |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |