† witelessadj.
Scottish (and northern) ? Obsolete.
Blameless.
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society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > [adjective] > blameless
unfakenOE
lastlessc1225
unculpable1382
plightlessa1400
freelessc1400
unblamed14..
inculpablea1492
blameless1535
unblameful1570
witeless1578
inculpate1612
amomous1683
sans reprochea1845
1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 18 Scho was wyteles, howbeit storme thame opprest.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Aug. 136 Ne can Willye wite the witelesse herdgroome.
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 240 Wyteles of the halding thairof.
1617 in A. I. Ritchie Churches St. Baldred (1880) 162 Alexander Daviesone did draw his quhinger also, and so suld not be altogidder wytless.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 202 If all be well, I's be wyteless.
1737 A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. (1750) 102 They wyte you and you no wytless.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1578