selflessness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *swé?

Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der.

Proto-Germanic *selbaz

Old English self

Middle English self

English self

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 selfless

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 selflessness

From selfless + -ness.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

selflessness (usually uncountable, plural selflessnesses)

1. The quality or state of being selfless.

   Synonyms: self-denial, unselfishness; see also Thesaurus:self-abnegation

   Antonym: selfishness

   • 2011 March 19, Nicholas Kristof, “The Japanese Could Teach Us a Thing or Two”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 April 2025:

     But the truth is that I came to cherish Japan’s civility and selflessness.

Translations

quality or state of being selfless

• Arabic: إِيثَار m (ʔīṯār), غَيْرِيَّة f (ḡayriyya)
• Belarusian: самаадда́насць f (samaaddánascʹ)
• Bulgarian: самоотверже́ност (bg) f (samootveržénost), безкори́стност f (bezkorístnost)
• French: altruisme (fr) m
• German: Selbstlosigkeit (de) f
• Hungarian: önzetlenség (hu)
• Korean: 멸사(滅私) (ko) (myeolsa)
• Persian: ایثار (fa) (isâr), نوع‌دوستی (fa) (now'-dusti)
• Polish: bezinteresowność (pl) f
• Russian: самоотве́рженность (ru) f (samootvéržennostʹ), бескоры́стность (ru) f (beskorýstnostʹ)
• Spanish: altruismo (es) m, abnegación (es) f, desprendimiento (es) m, desinterés (es) m
• Ukrainian: самові́дданість f (samovíddanistʹ)

See also

• detachment