Learn English – How did the term “worthless” come by its current definition

etymologymeaning

If I were to define the term "worthless," I would define it as "worth LESS" or "worth not a lot."

But the actual dictionary definition is something like "worth zero." That's even less than "worth less" or "worth-not-a-lot."

How did the term come by its actual connotation. Could "less" in this context be a play or derivative of the German "los?" (The German Wertlos has the same meaning as the English worthless.)

Best Answer

Your definition would be wrong. The suffix -less means:

1 (forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns) not having; free from.
‘flavourless’
‘skinless’

2 (forming adjectives and adverbs from verbs) not affected by or not carrying out the action of the verb.
‘fathomless’
‘tireless’

Origin
Old English -lēas, from lēas ‘devoid of’.

Note that the origin given for the word less is different.

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