Etymology

lightless

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Today it means: Lacking light; unilluminated; dark. Full definition →

Middle English lightles ← Old English lēohtlēas ← Proto-West Germanic *leuhtalaus
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*leuhtalaus
  2. Old English · inherited fromlēohtlēas
  3. Middle English · inherited fromlightles
  4. English todaylightless

From Middle English lightles, from Old English lēohtlēas, from Proto-West Germanic *leuhtalaus; equivalent to light (noun) + -less (“lacking, without”). Cognate with West Frisian ljochtleas, Dutch lichtloos, German lichtlos.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.