English
bairnless
Bairnless comes from Middle English barnles ‘lacking or without children’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰor-no-m1reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*barną2‘child’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*barnalausaz3‘childless’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bearnlēas4‘childless’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barnles4‘lacking or without children’
- Englishtodaybairnless4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *barną
- 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *barnalausaz
- 3 Wiktionary, Old English bearnleas
- 4 Wiktionary, English bairnless
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *barną‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰor-no-mWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *barnąreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*barnąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *barnalausaz‘child’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*barnalausazWiktionary, Old English bearnleas‘childless’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bearnlēasWiktionary, English bairnless‘childless’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barnlesWiktionary, English bairnless‘lacking or without children’
- EnglishtodaybairnlessWiktionary, English bairnless
Formed from bairn + -less
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
…
Proto-West Germanic *barn ‘child’
Old English bearn ‘child’
Middle English bern ‘barn, farm building, granary’
Scots bairn ‘child’
English bairn
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
different, offer, difference, reference, transfer, bear, bar, prefer, birth, broad, bread, relative, suffer, translation, extraordinary, relation, fortune, relate, burden, differ, barrel, referendum, frustration, bore, translate, fury, breeze, referee, fertility, baron, bark, borne, fertile, berth, broom, phosphate, extravagant, fret, phosphorus, euphoria, 157 more
through Proto-Germanic *barną ‘child’
Today it means
adj childless
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bairnless”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *barną, Proto-Germanic *barnalausaz, Old English bearnleas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / bairnless