spotlessadj.n.

Brit.

/ˈspɒtləs/, U.S.

/ˈspɑtləs/

Forms: see spot n.¹ and adv. and -less suffix.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: spot n.¹, -less suffix.

Etymology: < spot n.¹ + -less suffix.

A. adj.

a. Free from spots or stains; not marked with, or disfigured by, spots or blemishes. In early use frequently designating something that is white in colour.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > [adjective]

cleanc897

fair?c1225

netc1330

cleanly1340

unspotted1382

blotless?a1400

unwemmeda1400

spotlessc1400

neat1494

unblotted1548

unstained1555

stainlessa1586

exempt1586

unsoiledc1592

undefiled1596

unsullied1598

dirtlessa1618

immaculatea1631

innocent1645

unsmeared1648

unsmutched1809

speckless1827

spandy-clean1838

unblackened1864

soilless1868

smudgeless1924

clinical1932

squeaky clean1975

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 856 Of spotlez perlez þa[t] beren þe creste.

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus i. i. 182 The people of Rome..Send thee..This Palliament of white and spotles hue.

1595 B. Barnes Divine Cent. Spirituall Sonnets xxiiii. sig. C2 At length I like an Angell shall appeare In spotlesse white, an Angels Crowne to weare.

1606 J. Marston Parasitaster iv. sig. G4 Vntrodden snow is not so spotless.

1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 157 The body being..clear, fair, pure, neat and spotless.

1744 J. Thomson Winter in Seasons (new ed.) 226 Fair Ermines, spotless as the Snows they press.

1779 D. Garrick Let. 15 Jan. in D. Garrick & G. Spencer Lett. (1960) 161 The Eruptions upon my once clear Spotless body.

1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands II. 269 Eggs,..of a spotless bluish green colour.

1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxiv. 201 The bed seemed to me like snow-drift and mist—spotless, soft, and gauzy.

1928 Kokomo (Indiana) Daily Tribune 9 Oct. 12 A radiant sun shining from a spotless sky.

1953 R. Chandler Long Good-bye xxxviii. 226 A spotless desk blotter.

1991 B. Okri Famished Road (1992) i. iii. 13 They dressed me in a spotless robe of material so soft and white that I felt I had been wrapped in a cloud.

b. Absolutely clean; perfectly tidy; immaculate.

ΚΠ

1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth I. xiii. 278 Exquisite cleanliness seemed the very spirit of the household, for the door which was open to the kitchen showed a delicately-white and spotless floor.

1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master xxii. 156 How white the table-cloth, how bright the coffee-pot, how clean the wood-work, how glistening the brass door-knobs, how spotless everything that came under the sovereign sway of Mrs. Matilda White!

1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter II. 15 The red-brick floor spotless as if it were a floor in a picture.

1912 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 4 Oct. 5 (advt.) The question is—how to have both lovely hands and spotless clothes.

1957 J. Schull Salt-water Men v. 64 His first glimpse of spotless decks, gleaming ironwork, and fresh paint.

1989 C. Harman S. Townsend Warner: Biogr. ii. 59 The house was not spotless. Behind the curtains in Hilary's room lay a quantity of dead flies.

2004 N. Govinden We are New Romantics 168 ‘Give everything a good scrub, my petit,’ Betty cooed from the shop floor. ‘I want to see everything spotless.’

2. figurative.

a. Free from sin or disgrace; undefiled, pure.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > virtue > purity > [adjective]

cleanlyc888

unwemmedc950

clean971

lightOE

whiteOE

unfiledc1200

shire?c1225

sheenc1275

wemlessc1275

undefouled13..

undefoileda1325

purec1330

unbleckedc1380

unfouledc1380

clear1382

impollutec1384

unblemishedc1400

undefiledc1400

unspottedc1400

virginc1400

spotless?a1430

immaculate1441

uncorruptc1450

unpollushed1490

intemeratea1492

incorrupted1529

unmaculate1535

impolluted1548

crystallinec1550

incorrupt1550

uncorrupted1565

undistained1565

unstained1573

entire1587

taintless1590

untainted1590

stainless1599

unsmirched1604

intemerated1608

indepravate1609

chastea1616

uncurseda1628

undishonested1631

untaint1638

Adamical1649

sincere1649

undebaucheda1656

unaccurseda1674

amiantal1674

unsoiled1699

unpolluted1732

?a1430 T. Hoccleve Inuocacio ad Patrem l. 85 in Minor Poems (1970) ii. 277 He is þat meek and spotlees Innocent, Þat for our gilt to dye, no thyng dradde.

1574 Certaine Prayers S. Augustines Medit. sig. Iij^v O light whiche hatest all spottinesse, in asmuch as thou art most cleane and spottelesse.

1590 E. Spenser Teares of Muses 388 Sweete Loue deuoyd of villanie..But pure and spotles.

1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Lett. 318 I..do protest unto you..that my fidelity is spotless.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 318 How have ye..banisht from mans life..Simplicitie and spotless innocence.

1743 J. Wesley & C. Wesley Coll. Psalms (new ed.) 87 Like thy spotless Master thou, Fill'd with Wisdom, Love and Power.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxxiii. 333 The people applauded his spotless integrity.

1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece II. xiv. 228 His mother's reputation was not deemed spotless.

1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost xii. 331 So, I may say, all are bound to live a life that is spotless before God.

1952 Life 17 Nov. 38/2 With a spotless new administration and a powerful personal charm, he will be more easily able to convince men of higher caliber to work for him.

1988 Financial Times 10 Sept. (Weekend FT section) p. xxiv Her two losses in the spring..are the only blemishes on an otherwise spotless record.

2010 Psychologies (U.K. ed.) Apr. 58/1 The film depicts Leigh Anne as an ideal mother, a spotless character never troubled by a moment of selfishness or doubt.

b. Guiltless or innocent of something. Now somewhat archaic.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > [adjective] > free from guilt > guiltless of (something)

unguiltyc1450

spotlessa1530

a1530 T. Lupset Treat. Charitie (1533) f. 2^v If you kepe in you Charitie, ye be spotles of all gruges.

a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Knight of Malta ii. v, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Kkkkk4^v/2 Ye fight for her, as spotlesse of these mischiefes, As heaven is of our sinnes.

1631 F. Hubert Egypts Favorite sig. G8 They were spotlesse of this crime, Wherewith vniustly they were charg'd withall.

1751 C. Howe Devout Medit. 148 A Life in this World spotless of Sin, and triumphant over all Temptations.

1799 W. H. Ireland Abbess II. ii. 60 She is pure and spotless of any charge concerning me, that you may be prompted to alledge against her.

1828 Portfolio IV. 484/2 He taxed her with infidelity; but his heart knew too well she was spotless of the crime.

1861 Christian Examiner Jan. 15 The sinless man; spotless of evil, he moved through his mortal experiences.

1907 Amer. Monthly Mag. May 393 All of our achievements so far as we are able to make them so, are spotless of meanness, sordidness or undue calculation.

1987 Proc. Harvard Celtic Colloquium 7 85 Boys were to be kept as spotless of sexual experience before marriage as were girls.

2005 Healing in Hist. Christianity vii. 182 The official declaration by Pius IX in 1854 that Mary was spotless of sin from the moment of conception.

3. In the names of animals, esp. birds: lacking the spotted markings that characterize related species. Cf. spotted adj. Compounds 1.

ΚΠ

1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 274 The Ai seems to vary considerably as the Spotless Ai, the Yellow-faced Ai.

1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 19 The Spotless Brown (Polyommatus Titus).

1955 W. R. B. Oliver N.Z. Birds (ed. 2) 357 On Raoul Island, the Spotless Crake is found in the forest, but resorts to a raupo swamp to breed.

2010 A. Davies in A. Davies & R. Miller Biggest Twitch iii. 106 A party of Spotless Starlings had landed on nearby television aerials.

†B. n.

With plural agreement. People without sin or guilt, considered collectively. Chiefly with the. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > [noun] > freedom from guilt > person

innocentc1340

spotless1652

1652 T. Vane Wisdome & Innocence 149 They have whetted their tongues like a sword, they have bent their bow, a bitter thing, that they might shoot secretly at the spotlesse.

1663 A. Cowley Cutter of Coleman-St. Pref. sig. A2^v We are not, I hope, become such Puritans our selves as to assume the Name of the Congregation of the Spotless.

1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xv. 143 O you spotless, who have the right of capital punishment vested in you.

1868 Dublin Rev. July 221 They were inventors of the new error, while he permitted the spotless to be defiled.

1913 E. P. Johnson Moccasin Maker 142 Only the spotless and stainless can enter into His presence.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	spotless
释义	spotlessadj.n. Brit. /ˈspɒtləs/, U.S. /ˈspɑtləs/ Forms: see spot n.¹ and adv. and -less suffix. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: spot n.¹, -less suffix. Etymology: < spot n.¹ + -less suffix. A. adj. 1. a. Free from spots or stains; not marked with, or disfigured by, spots or blemishes. In early use frequently designating something that is white in colour. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > [adjective] cleanc897 fair?c1225 netc1330 cleanly1340 unspotted1382 blotless?a1400 unwemmeda1400 spotlessc1400 neat1494 unblotted1548 unstained1555 stainlessa1586 exempt1586 unsoiledc1592 undefiled1596 unsullied1598 dirtlessa1618 immaculatea1631 innocent1645 unsmeared1648 unsmutched1809 speckless1827 spandy-clean1838 unblackened1864 soilless1868 smudgeless1924 clinical1932 squeaky clean1975 c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 856 Of spotlez perlez þa[t] beren þe creste. 1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus i. i. 182 The people of Rome..Send thee..This Palliament of white and spotles hue. View more context for this quotation 1595 B. Barnes Divine Cent. Spirituall Sonnets xxiiii. sig. C2 At length I like an Angell shall appeare In spotlesse white, an Angels Crowne to weare. 1606 J. Marston Parasitaster iv. sig. G4 Vntrodden snow is not so spotless. 1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 157 The body being..clear, fair, pure, neat and spotless. 1744 J. Thomson Winter in Seasons (new ed.) 226 Fair Ermines, spotless as the Snows they press. 1779 D. Garrick Let. 15 Jan. in D. Garrick & G. Spencer Lett. (1960) 161 The Eruptions upon my once clear Spotless body. 1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands II. 269 Eggs,..of a spotless bluish green colour. 1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxiv. 201 The bed seemed to me like snow-drift and mist—spotless, soft, and gauzy. 1928 Kokomo (Indiana) Daily Tribune 9 Oct. 12 A radiant sun shining from a spotless sky. 1953 R. Chandler Long Good-bye xxxviii. 226 A spotless desk blotter. 1991 B. Okri Famished Road (1992) i. iii. 13 They dressed me in a spotless robe of material so soft and white that I felt I had been wrapped in a cloud. b. Absolutely clean; perfectly tidy; immaculate. ΚΠ 1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth I. xiii. 278 Exquisite cleanliness seemed the very spirit of the household, for the door which was open to the kitchen showed a delicately-white and spotless floor. 1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master xxii. 156 How white the table-cloth, how bright the coffee-pot, how clean the wood-work, how glistening the brass door-knobs, how spotless everything that came under the sovereign sway of Mrs. Matilda White! 1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter II. 15 The red-brick floor spotless as if it were a floor in a picture. 1912 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 4 Oct. 5 (advt.) The question is—how to have both lovely hands and spotless clothes. 1957 J. Schull Salt-water Men v. 64 His first glimpse of spotless decks, gleaming ironwork, and fresh paint. 1989 C. Harman S. Townsend Warner: Biogr. ii. 59 The house was not spotless. Behind the curtains in Hilary's room lay a quantity of dead flies. 2004 N. Govinden We are New Romantics 168 ‘Give everything a good scrub, my petit,’ Betty cooed from the shop floor. ‘I want to see everything spotless.’ 2. figurative. a. Free from sin or disgrace; undefiled, pure. ΘΚΠ society > morality > virtue > purity > [adjective] cleanlyc888 unwemmedc950 clean971 lightOE whiteOE unfiledc1200 shire?c1225 sheenc1275 wemlessc1275 undefouled13.. undefoileda1325 purec1330 unbleckedc1380 unfouledc1380 clear1382 impollutec1384 unblemishedc1400 undefiledc1400 unspottedc1400 virginc1400 spotless?a1430 immaculate1441 uncorruptc1450 unpollushed1490 intemeratea1492 incorrupted1529 unmaculate1535 impolluted1548 crystallinec1550 incorrupt1550 uncorrupted1565 undistained1565 unstained1573 entire1587 taintless1590 untainted1590 stainless1599 unsmirched1604 intemerated1608 indepravate1609 chastea1616 uncurseda1628 undishonested1631 untaint1638 Adamical1649 sincere1649 undebaucheda1656 unaccurseda1674 amiantal1674 unsoiled1699 unpolluted1732 ?a1430 T. Hoccleve Inuocacio ad Patrem l. 85 in Minor Poems (1970) ii. 277 He is þat meek and spotlees Innocent, Þat for our gilt to dye, no thyng dradde. 1574 Certaine Prayers S. Augustines Medit. sig. Iij^v O light whiche hatest all spottinesse, in asmuch as thou art most cleane and spottelesse. 1590 E. Spenser Teares of Muses 388 Sweete Loue deuoyd of villanie..But pure and spotles. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Lett. 318 I..do protest unto you..that my fidelity is spotless. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 318 How have ye..banisht from mans life..Simplicitie and spotless innocence. View more context for this quotation 1743 J. Wesley & C. Wesley Coll. Psalms (new ed.) 87 Like thy spotless Master thou, Fill'd with Wisdom, Love and Power. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxxiii. 333 The people applauded his spotless integrity. 1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece II. xiv. 228 His mother's reputation was not deemed spotless. 1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost xii. 331 So, I may say, all are bound to live a life that is spotless before God. 1952 Life 17 Nov. 38/2 With a spotless new administration and a powerful personal charm, he will be more easily able to convince men of higher caliber to work for him. 1988 Financial Times 10 Sept. (Weekend FT section) p. xxiv Her two losses in the spring..are the only blemishes on an otherwise spotless record. 2010 Psychologies (U.K. ed.) Apr. 58/1 The film depicts Leigh Anne as an ideal mother, a spotless character never troubled by a moment of selfishness or doubt. b. Guiltless or innocent of something. Now somewhat archaic. ΘΚΠ society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > [adjective] > free from guilt > guiltless of (something) unguiltyc1450 spotlessa1530 a1530 T. Lupset Treat. Charitie (1533) f. 2^v If you kepe in you Charitie, ye be spotles of all gruges. a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Knight of Malta ii. v, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Kkkkk4^v/2 Ye fight for her, as spotlesse of these mischiefes, As heaven is of our sinnes. 1631 F. Hubert Egypts Favorite sig. G8 They were spotlesse of this crime, Wherewith vniustly they were charg'd withall. 1751 C. Howe Devout Medit. 148 A Life in this World spotless of Sin, and triumphant over all Temptations. 1799 W. H. Ireland Abbess II. ii. 60 She is pure and spotless of any charge concerning me, that you may be prompted to alledge against her. 1828 Portfolio IV. 484/2 He taxed her with infidelity; but his heart knew too well she was spotless of the crime. 1861 Christian Examiner Jan. 15 The sinless man; spotless of evil, he moved through his mortal experiences. 1907 Amer. Monthly Mag. May 393 All of our achievements so far as we are able to make them so, are spotless of meanness, sordidness or undue calculation. 1987 Proc. Harvard Celtic Colloquium 7 85 Boys were to be kept as spotless of sexual experience before marriage as were girls. 2005 Healing in Hist. Christianity vii. 182 The official declaration by Pius IX in 1854 that Mary was spotless of sin from the moment of conception. 3. In the names of animals, esp. birds: lacking the spotted markings that characterize related species. Cf. spotted adj. Compounds 1. ΚΠ 1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 274 The Ai seems to vary considerably as the Spotless Ai, the Yellow-faced Ai. 1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 19 The Spotless Brown (Polyommatus Titus). 1955 W. R. B. Oliver N.Z. Birds (ed. 2) 357 On Raoul Island, the Spotless Crake is found in the forest, but resorts to a raupo swamp to breed. 2010 A. Davies in A. Davies & R. Miller Biggest Twitch iii. 106 A party of Spotless Starlings had landed on nearby television aerials. †B. n. With plural agreement. People without sin or guilt, considered collectively. Chiefly with the. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > [noun] > freedom from guilt > person innocentc1340 spotless1652 1652 T. Vane Wisdome & Innocence 149 They have whetted their tongues like a sword, they have bent their bow, a bitter thing, that they might shoot secretly at the spotlesse. 1663 A. Cowley Cutter of Coleman-St. Pref. sig. A2^v We are not, I hope, become such Puritans our selves as to assume the Name of the Congregation of the Spotless. 1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xv. 143 O you spotless, who have the right of capital punishment vested in you. 1868 Dublin Rev. July 221 They were inventors of the new error, while he permitted the spotless to be defiled. 1913 E. P. Johnson Moccasin Maker 142 Only the spotless and stainless can enter into His presence. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.c1400
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