affectlessness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Proto-Italic *ad-

Latin ad-

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti

Proto-Italic *θakjō

Proto-Italic *fakjō

Latin faciō

Latin afficiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin affectusder.

Middle English affect

English affect

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 affectless

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-der.

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English affectlessness

From affectless + -ness.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈaˌfɛktləsnəs/

Noun

affectlessness (uncountable)

1. Emotional detachment; a lack of feeling. [from 20th c.]
   • 1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae:

     That is, she has an amoral affectlessness, a serene indifference to the suffering of others, which she invites and dispassionately observes as tests of her power.