Limitless

How to spell limitless

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce limitless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does limitless mean?

1. adjectiveHaving no limit or boundary; without restriction in amount, extent, or degree.

Limitless in a sentence

• The new data plan offers limitless downloads for a flat monthly fee.

• She approached the project with limitless enthusiasm and worked late every night.

Where does limitless come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the noun 'limit', which English took from the Latin limes, meaning a boundary, border, or marked edge of a field or territory; the Romans even used limes for the fortified frontier lines of their empire. 'Limit' arrived in English through Old French in the late 1300s, carrying the sense of a fixed point that something cannot pass. The ending '-less' is a native Germanic suffix that descends from Old English 'leas', which originally meant 'free from' or 'without', the same element seen in 'careless' and 'fearless'. Combined, 'limitless' simply means 'without boundary', and it became common in English by the 1500s. The spelling trap lives at the join: the base keeps its single 't', and the suffix supplies the doubled 's', so the word is limit + less, never 'limitess' or 'limiteless'.

How the word is built

• limit (from Latin limes: boundary)
• -less (without)