English
painless
Painless comes from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-1‘to pay’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paynles1
- Englishearliest quotation 1924painless1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English painless
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, Don Herold, So Human: “There are now washless dishes, painless razors, painless shoes,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-Wiktionary, English painless‘to pay’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paynlesWiktionary, English painless
- Englishearliest quotation 1924painlessWiktionary, English painless. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, Don Herold, So Human: “There are now washless dishes, painless razors, painless shoes,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’
penalty, poetry, punishment, poem, poet, punish, pine, painful, titanium, penal, punitive, subpoena, impunity, whey, onomatopoeia, 21 more
Today it means
adj Free from pain; without pain or trouble.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “painless”. 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 *kʷey- / painless