Boundless

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Without limits or bounds; infinite or unlimited in extent, amount, or scope
2. Without any restrictions or confines, characterized by an infinite or extensive quality in terms of reach, quantity, or concept
3. Possessing an unrestricted nature, exhibiting a vastness that is unlimited in range, capacity, or influence

Etymology: Boundless is a plain compound: "bound" plus the suffix "-less". The suffix traces back through Old English "-lēas", which meant "free from" or "lacking", and it came into Middle English as "-les" before settling into the "-less" we use now. Attaching it to "bound" produced a word meaning "without limits", so the negative element does the work: the root "bound" supplies the boundary, and "-less" removes it. The base word has a longer and more tangled past. "Bound" in the sense of a limit or edge came into English from Middle English "bownde", which in turn came from Old Norse "búinn", meaning "prepared" or "ready". That may seem far from a boundary, but it is the same ancestry as the verb "bound" for a boundary line. Old Norse "búinn" was itself linked to the Proto-Germanic root for "dwell", so the idea of a settled place sits underneath the modern sense of a marked edge.

Synonyms: limitless, infinite, unbounded

Antonyms: limited, finite