Etymology

shelfless

S1H4E1L1F4L1E1S1S1

Today it means: Without shelves. Full definition →

Proto-Germanic *lausaz ← Proto-Indo-European *lewHs- ← English shelf
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kelH-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kel(H)-p-
  3. Proto-Germanic*skelfō
  4. Proto-West Germanic*skelfu:
  5. Proto-West Germanic*skilfijā
  6. Old Englishsċylfe?
  7. Middle Englishschelfe
  8. Englishshelf
  9. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
  11. Proto-Germanic*leusaną
  12. Proto-Germanic*lausaz
  13. English todayshelfless

From shelf + -less.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.