Etymograph

English

useless

Useless comes from Old French us ‘tradition or custom’, from Latin ūtor ‘to use, make use of, employ’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt- ‘to take, fetch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃eyt-1‘to take, fetch’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oitōr1‘to use, employ’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūtor1‘to use, make use of, employ’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūsus1
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400us1‘tradition or custom’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500use1
  7. English1500–presentuse1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2021useless1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English useless
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Philip Haigh, Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north: “I'm all for opening new stations (Transport Scotland is…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃eyt-Wiktionary, English useless‘to take, fetch’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oitōrWiktionary, English useless‘to use, employ’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūtorWiktionary, English useless‘to use, make use of, employ’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūsusWiktionary, English useless
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400usWiktionary, English useless‘tradition or custom’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500useWiktionary, English useless
  7. English1500–presentuseWiktionary, English useless
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2021uselessWiktionary, English useless. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Philip Haigh, Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north: “I'm all for opening new stations (Transport Scotland is…”

A compound of use + -less

Proto-Italic *oitōr ‘to use’

Latin ūtor

Latin ūsus ‘use’

Old French us ‘tradition or custom’

Middle English use

English use

Linked words

through Latin ūtor ‘to use, make use of, employ’

utilization, usable, utilisation, 7 more

through Latin ūsus

usual, usury, 1 more

through Middle English use

use

Today it means

adj Without use or the possibility to be used.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “useless”. 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 *h₃eyt- / useless

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