weaponless

English

Etymology

From Middle English wepenles, from Old English wǣpenlēas, from Proto-Germanic *wēpnalausaz, equivalent to weapon +‎ -less. Cognate with Saterland Frisian woapenloos (“weaponless”), Dutch wapenloos (“weaponless”), German waffenlos (“weaponless”), Danish våbenløs (“weaponless”), Swedish vapenlös (“weaponless”), Icelandic vopnlaus (“weaponless”).

Adjective

weaponless (not comparable)

1. Lacking a weapon.

   Synonym: (more common) unarmed

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     Summerlee was weaponless, but I was emptying my magazine as quick as I could fire, and on the further flank we heard the continuous cracking of our companion's rifles.

Derived terms

• weaponlessness

Translations

lacking a weapon

• German: waffenlos (de)
• Italian: disarmato (it)
• Polish: bezorężny (dated), nieuzbrojony (pl)
• Spanish: sin armas (es)
• Swedish: vapenlös (sv)