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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

subjectless en · ADJ

Etymology

From subject + -less.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Lacking a subject (citizen).
    • The subjects without King can do nothing; the subjectless King can do something. 1840, Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship:
  2. (not-comparable) Lacking a subject or theme.
    • Using a painstaking technique favored by 15th-century Italians for their most sacred images, Young makes disarmingly beautiful pictures in a loose, almost subjectless language of color and texture and form. 1992 May 8, Mitchell Stevens, “Andrew Young”, in Chicago Reader:
  3. (not-comparable) Lacking a grammatical subject.
    • “We’re here to help you” versus “Were here to help you” makes no sense; a subjectless, past-tense message — as in, “The doctors were here to help you, but now they’re gone” — has scarcely appeared in the history of the universe. 2007 July 15, Ann Hodgman, “Children’s Books”, in New York Times:

Deriveds

subjectlessness · subjectlessly

Translations (3)

fi alamaiseton (lacking subject) · pl bezpodmiotowy (in grammar) · fi subjektiton (lacking subject)