Strengthless is from strength + -less. Strength is from Old English strengþu, from strang ('strong'), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz ('tight, strong'). Important recorded forms include strengþu (Old English) and *strangaz (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, -less marks absence or lack, so the word names a state defined by being without the quality or thing expressed by the base. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers lacking strength; feeble or powerless. The wider family includes derived forms such as strengthlessly and strengthlessness and related words such as strength, strengthen, and strong.