beardless
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English bērdlēs, from Old English beardlēas (“beardless”), from Proto-West Germanic *bardalaus (“beardless”), equivalent to beard + -less. Cognate with Scots berdles (“beardless”), Saterland Frisian boartloos (“beardless”), West Frisian burdleas (“beardless”), Dutch baardeloos (“beardless”), German Low German baartlos (“beardless”), German bartlos (“beardless”).
AdjectiveEdit
beardless (comparative more beardless, superlative most beardless)
- Lacking a beard.
- (by extension, of a male) Not having reached puberty or manhood; youthful.
- 1596 Shakespeare, King John, Act 4, Scene 1
- shall a beardless boy,
- Cocker'd silken wanton, brave our fields,
- And flesh his spirit in a warlike soil,
- Mocking the air with colours idly spread,
- And find no check?
- 1596 Shakespeare, King John, Act 4, Scene 1
- Destitute of an awn.
- beardless wheat
- (ornithology) Lacking a beard (a defined patch of feathers below the beak).
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
without a beard
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not having reached manhood
lacking awn
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