English
scatheless
Scatheless comes from Middle English scatheles ‘unscathed’, and goes back to scathe ‘damage, harm’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scathe1‘damage, harm’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scatheles2‘unscathed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1884scatheless2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English scatheles
- 2 Wiktionary, English scatheless
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1884, H. Rider Haggard: “He felt like a man who has just come…”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scatheWiktionary, Middle English scatheles‘damage, harm’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scathelesWiktionary, English scatheless‘unscathed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1884scathelessWiktionary, English scatheless. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1884, H. Rider Haggard: “He felt like a man who has just come…”
Formed from scathe + -less
Proto-Germanic *skaþô ‘damage, scathe’
Old Norse skaði ‘damage, harm’
Middle English scath
English scathe
Every English word from Middle English scathe
Today it means
adj Without scathe or harm; without mischief, injury, or damage; unharmed.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “scatheless”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English scatheles. 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 scathe / scatheless