guiltless

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English giltlēs,^[2][3] inherited from Old English gyltlēas, a late formation^[4][5] from Old English gylt + -lēas, whose parts gave guilt and -less.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Free from guilt, innocent: in the Ormulum of about 1175,^[4][2] where Herod kills Þa gilltelæse chilldre.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word only to the 13th century,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1150–1200.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Vices and Virtues, of about 1200, gylt-leas renders Latin innocēns.^[2] Middle English used the word of persons, things and actions, and with of or from for what one had not done: of blod, not guilty of shedding blood.^[2] It stood as a noun for guiltless people as a class from about 1200, now only with the.^[4][7] From 1602 to 1785 it was also used of things and places free from the stain of crime.^[4] Johnson (1755) gives only "innocent; free from crime".^[8] In 1667 Milton used it for having no acquaintance or experience of something,^[4] and this sense has lasted, usually with of.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – free from guilt, innocent.^[4][2]
• c. 1200 – as a noun, guiltless people.^[4]
• 1602 – of things and places, free from the stain of crime (obsolete after 1785).^[4]
• 1667 – having no acquaintance or experience of something.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Free from guilt or wrongdoing; innocent: The jury found the young clerk guiltless of the theft.^[3][9][4]
2. Having no experience of or dealings with something, or lacking it, with of: a cottage long guiltless of carpets.^[3][4][7]

Noun

1. the guiltless: guiltless people as a class.^[4][7]

Word family

• guiltlessly
• guiltlessness

Related words

• guilt
• guilty

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins