stingless en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree English sting Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English stingless From sting + -less.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Having no sting.
Cassius. […] for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, And leave them honeyless. Antony. Not stingless too. Brutus. O yes, and soundless too; For you have stol’n their buzzing, Antony, And very wisely threat before you sting.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]: