I'm going to give you a string of words. My question is very simple:

"careLESS" - care
"fearLESS" - fear
"reckLESS" - ?
"ruthLESS" - ??

Fikrat

An unabridged English dictionary will tell you why the last two items are not odd.

According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (1977), reck is a verb that means "to have care or concern (for)". Although reck is not a verb, the adjective reckless is formed on that base.

Ruth is a noun that means 1) pity or compassion 2) sorrow or grief 3) self-reproach, contrition, remorse

A variation on a limerick I knew many years ago goes like this:

Ruth rode on my motorbike

Directly back of me;

I hit a bump at 65,

And rode on Ruthlessly.

Neither reck nor ruth is found in modern English except perhaps in poetry.

Now, what's the origin of feckless?

Marilyn Martin

Marilyn wrote:

>Now, what's the origin of feckless?

Probably:
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feck

2 Scotland : VALUE, WORTH <no feck would come from it>

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
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