Etymograph

English

landless

Landless comes from Old English landlēas ‘landless, not having land’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lendʰ-1‘land, heath’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*landą2‘land, area of ground’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*land2‘land, area of ground’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150land3
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150landlēas4‘landless, not having land’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500londlees4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1980landless4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *landą
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English land
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English landleas
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English landless
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd: “By the mid-19th century, the typical village was sharply…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lendʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *landą‘land, heath’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*landąWiktionary, Old English land‘land, area of ground’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*landWiktionary, Old English land‘land, area of ground’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150landWiktionary, Old English landleas
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150landlēasWiktionary, English landless‘landless, not having land’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500londleesWiktionary, English landless
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1980landlessWiktionary, English landless. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd: “By the mid-19th century, the typical village was sharply…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‘land, heath’

island, lawn, lend, lumbar, lasagna, loma, loin, outlandish, 8 more

through Old English land

lande, 2 more

Today it means

adj Not owning land.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “landless”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *landą, Old English land, Old English landleas. 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 *lendʰ- / landless

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