Where does “idel” come from?

idel (Middle English) comes from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdl — void, empty, ineffective.

Ancestry of “idel”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishīdelempty, void; bereft
2Proto-West Germanic*īdlvoid, empty, ineffective

Words derived from “idel”

Every word from Proto-West Germanic *īdl →Every word from Old English īdel →
idel — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer