English
without
Without comes from Old English wiþūtan ‘outside of, without’ (literally ‘against the outside of’), from wiþ + ūtan.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiþūtan1‘outside of, without’literally ‘against the outside of’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500withoute1‘without’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606without1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English without
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “MACBETH: There's blood upon your face. FIRST MURDERER: 'Tis…”.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiþūtanWiktionary, English without‘outside of, without’literally ‘against the outside of’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500withouteWiktionary, English without‘without’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606withoutWiktionary, English without. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “MACBETH: There's blood upon your face. FIRST MURDERER: 'Tis…”
The story
Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (‘without’), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (‘without’).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with without, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Middle English withoute ‘unless, except’
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Today it means
adv Outside, externally.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “without”. 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 / Old English wiþūtan / without