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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English bērdlēs, from Old English beardlēas (beardless), from Proto-West Germanic *bardalaus (beardless), equivalent to beard +‎ -less. Cognate with Scots berdles (beardless), Saterland Frisian boartloos (beardless), West Frisian burdleas (beardless), Dutch baardeloos (beardless), German Low German baartlos (beardless), German bartlos (beardless).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beardless (comparative more beardless, superlative most beardless)

  1. Lacking a beard.
    • 1987 February 1, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 28, page 13:
      Distinctly slender (willowy), quietly fem/androgynous, beardless chap who can wear clothes and speak well is what I'm hoping to find.
  2. (by extension, of a male) Not having reached puberty or manhood; youthful.
    • 1596, Shakespeare, King John, Act 4, Scene 1:
      shall a beardless boy,
      Cocker’d silken wanton, brave our fields,
      And flesh his spirit in a warlike soil,
      Mocking the air with colours idly spread,
      And find no check?
  3. Lacking an awn.
    beardless wheat
  4. (ornithology) Lacking a beard (a defined patch of feathers below the beak).

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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