uselessness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *oissos

Latin ūsus

Old French usbor.

Middle English use

English use

Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.

Proto-Germanic *leusaną

Proto-Germanic *lausaz

Proto-Germanic *-lausaz

Proto-West Germanic *-laus

Old English -lēas

Middle English -les

English -less

English useless

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English uselessness

From useless + -ness.

Noun

uselessness (countable and uncountable, plural uselessnesses)

1. The state or quality of being useless.

Translations

quality of being useless

• Finnish: turhanpäiväisyys
• French: inutilité (fr) f
• German: Sinnlosigkeit (de) f
• Hungarian: használhatatlanság (hu)
• Irish: neamhúsáid f
• Macedonian: беско́рисност f (beskórisnost), беспо́лезност f (bespóleznost)
• Old English: unnytnes f
• Polish: bezużyteczność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inutilidade (pt) f
• Russian: бесполе́зность (ru) f (bespoléznostʹ)