botleas

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English bōtlēas (“unpardonable”). Doublet of bootless.

Adjective

botleas (not comparable)

1. (Anglo-Saxon England, law, of a crime) Too grievous to be atoned for by the payment of a bōt or bōte; irredeemable, unpardonable.
   • 1991, Carla Ann Hage Johnson, “Entitled to Clemency: Mercy in the Criminal Law”, in Law and Philosophy, X, № 1 (February 1991), page 112:

     Persons guilty of the botleas crimes had no right to any particular punishment. Thus the convicted could not “complain if a foot was taken instead of his eyes, or if he was hanged instead of beheaded”.

Anagrams

• Seabolt, lobates, oblates, boatels, Lobatse, -betasol

Old English

Etymology

From bōt +‎ -lēas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboːtˌlæ͜ɑːs/

Adjective

bōtlēas

1. bootless, unpardonable, what cannot be redeemed, recompensed or expiated by the payment of boot

Declension

Declension of bōtlēas — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bōtlēas	bōtlēas	bōtlēas
Accusative	bōtlēasne	bōtlēase	bōtlēas
Genitive	bōtlēases	bōtlēasre	bōtlēases
Dative	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasre	bōtlēasum
Instrumental	bōtlēase	bōtlēasre	bōtlēase
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bōtlēase	bōtlēasa, bōtlēase	bōtlēas
Accusative	bōtlēase	bōtlēasa, bōtlēase	bōtlēas
Genitive	bōtlēasra	bōtlēasra	bōtlēasra
Dative	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum
Instrumental	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum

Declension of bōtlēas — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bōtlēasa	bōtlēase	bōtlēase
Accusative	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan	bōtlēase
Genitive	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan
Dative	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan
Instrumental	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan
Accusative	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan	bōtlēasan
Genitive	bōtlēasra, bōtlēasena	bōtlēasra, bōtlēasena	bōtlēasra, bōtlēasena
Dative	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum
Instrumental	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum	bōtlēasum

Descendants

• Middle English: boteles, botles, botelees, booteles, botelesse, bootles, butelesse
  • English: bootless
• → English: botleas

References

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “bótleás”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.