botleas

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English

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Etymology

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

Adjective

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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

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Old English

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Etymology

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From bōt +‎ -lēas.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈboːtˌlæ͜ɑːs/

Adjective

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bōtlēas

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

Declension

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Descendants

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References

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