English
houseless
Houseless comes from Middle English housles ‘Homeless’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English houseless
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1920, Harvey's Weekly: “Houseless and Homeless. The estimate of the New York…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houslesWiktionary, English houseless‘Homeless’
- Englishearliest quotation 1920houselessWiktionary, English houseless. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1920, Harvey's Weekly: “Houseless and Homeless. The estimate of the New York…”
Formed from house + -less
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs ‘dwelling’
Middle English hous ‘house’
English house
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *hūsą ‘house’
Today it means
adj Lacking a house, or, by extension, a residence or place of refuge in general; thus, having no home.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “houseless”. 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 / Middle English housles / houseless