without

A2 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled ithout, thout, widout, and wi’oot

US /wɪθˈaʊt/ UK /wɪðˈaʊt/ See IPA manual

Freq #265

Meanings

1

prep
Not having or not using something.

They had to eat without forks or spoons.
2

prep
Not doing something while doing something else.

He left the room without saying a word.
3

adv
Without the thing that is needed or wanted.

Money was tight, so he learned to live without.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

excluding excusing lacking minus neglecting outwith sans

Opposites

having including with within

Word family

Derived forms without-doorwithoutdoorswithoutness

Appears in

Phrases (3)

See all

Idioms (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)).

withoute Middle English wiþūtan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# without

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** prep, adv
**IPA (US):** /wɪθˈaʊt/
**IPA (UK):** /wɪðˈaʊt/
**Frequency rank:** 265

## Meanings
1. Not having or not using something.
2. Not doing something while doing something else.
3. Without the thing that is needed or wanted.

## Examples
- They had to eat without forks or spoons.
- He left the room without saying a word.
- Money was tight, so he learned to live without.

## Synonyms
- excluding
- excusing
- lacking
- minus
- neglecting
- outwith
- sans

## Antonyms
- having
- including
- with
- within

## Derived Forms
- without-door
- withoutdoors
- withoutness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: withoute
- Root: wiþūtan

## Etymology
From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)).

## AI Etymology
Without is from Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)). In present-day use, it can mean not having or not using something, or not doing something while doing something else.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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