Pronounced: bih-LIE, verb
Notes: I knew some, but not all, definitions
Yesterday’s word
The word sleeveless means
- unprofitable; futile; unreasonable; irrelevant
- without sleeves
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-900s
Background / Comments
Obviously, I knew the second definition, but how did the first definition come about? Back in medieval times, a lady would give her (detachable) sleeve (also called a “maunch” or “manche”) to a knight as a symbol of love and he would wear it as he went about on adventures. A knight without such a token – sleeveless – was futile or the other meanings of the first definition. Our word came from sleeve, which came from the Old English sliefe and less, from the Old English laes (less).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 