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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

earthless en · ADJ

Etymology

From Middle English ertheles, erþeles, equivalent to earth + -less. Cognate with West Frisian ierdleaze, German erdlos.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Without earth or soil.
    • In the Yangtze gorges the wild form grows on cliffs in practically earthless ledges... 1897, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Bulletin:
    • ...the Christians, having possession of that worthless, rocky, barren, earthless spot of land, called in Europe the Holy Land... 1825, W T Sherwin, Richard Carlile, The Republican:
    • "It is," he says, "an earthless country, bordered by immense ice-islands, which are continually separating in the summer... 1825, Ralph Griffiths, G E Griffiths, The Monthly Review:
  2. (not-comparable, obsolete) Unearthly; not of the Earth.
    • ...as the superstitious terrors of the sailors pointed towards this earthless visitant... 1834, Carl Spindler, The Jesuit:

Deriveds

earthlessness