Etymology

brotherless

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Today it means: Without a brother. Full definition →

Middle English brotherles ← Old English brōþorlēas ← Proto-West Germanic *brōþerlaus
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*brōþerlaus
  2. Old English · inherited frombrōþorlēas
  3. Middle English · inherited frombrotherles
  4. English todaybrotherless

From Middle English brotherles, from Old English brōþorlēas, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþerlaus, equivalent to brother + -less. Cognate with West Frisian broerleas (“brotherless”), Dutch broederloos (“brotherless”), German bruderlos (“brotherless”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.