Standard Lemma guide

without

adv · conj · prep · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /wɪðˈaʊt/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /wɪθˈaʊt/
  • US: /wɪθˈaʊt/
  • US: /wɪðˈaʊt/
  • US: /wɪˈθaʊt/
  • US: /wɪˈðaʊt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada: [wɪθˈɐʊ̯t]
  • Canada: [wɪðˈɐʊ̯t]
  • Canada: [-əu̯t]
  • Canada: [-ʌʊ̯t]
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Ontario, Southern: [wɪθˈɛʊ̯t]
  • [wɪɾ̥ˈəu̯t] Ottawa Valley
  • rhymes with -aʊt
  • CMU ARPABET: W IH0 TH AW1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: W IH0 DH AW1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

Outside, externally.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

Lacking something; failing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • Being from a large, poor family, he learned to live without.
  • We've run out of bread; you'll have to do without until I can get to the bakeshop.
  • Whose can be used with a following noun or without.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

Without a condom being worn.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic, not-comparable

Topics: lifestyle, prostitution, sexuality

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

conj

Meaning 4

Unless, except (introducing a clause).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

prep

Meaning 5

Outside of, beyond.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: within

6

prep

Meaning 6

Not having, containing, characteristic of, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • It was a mistake to leave my house without a coat.
  • I was without formal education but was well read and articulate.
  • 1967, Paul McCartney (writer), The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Life goes on within you and without you.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: with

7

prep

Meaning 7

Not doing or not having done something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He likes to eat everything without sharing.
  • He shot without warning anyone.
  • Without noticing it I grew old.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). 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”)).

Across languages

Translations

203 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sonder — not having
  • Albanian: pa — not having
  • Arabic: بِدُونِ (bidūni) — not having
  • Arabic: بِلَا (bilā) — not having
  • Arabic: بِغَيْرِ (biḡayri) — not having
  • Arabic: دُونَ (dūna) — not having
  • Arabic: مِنْ دُونِ (min dūni) — not having
  • Arabic: من غير (men ghēr) — not having
  • Arabic: بِدون (bidūn) — not having
  • Arabic: مِن غير (min ḡēr) — not having
  • Iraqi Arabic: ابليا (iblayyā) — not having
  • Arabic: بلا (bla) — not having
  • Arabic: بلا (bala) — not having
  • Arabic: بدون (bidun) — not having
  • Arabic: بلا (bala) — not having
  • Arabic: من دون — not having
  • Arabic: من غير (min gher) — not having
  • Aramaic: די לא — not having
  • Classical Mandaic: ࡀࡃࡉࡍࡒࡉࡀ (adinqia) — not having
  • Classical Mandaic: ࡁࡋࡀ (bla) — not having
  • Armenian: առանց (aṙancʻ) — not having
  • Asturian: ensin — not having
  • Azerbaijani: -sız — not having
  • Basque: gabe — not having
  • Basque: barik — not having
  • Belarusian: без (bjez) — not having
  • Bengali: ছাড়া (chaṛa) — not having
  • Bengali: বিনা (bina) — not having
  • Breton: hep — not having
  • Bulgarian: без (bez) — not having
  • Burmese: မ...ဘဲ (ma....bhai:) — not having
  • Catalan: sense — not having
  • Catalan: sens — not having
  • Chinese Cantonese: 冇 (mou5) — not having
  • Chinese Mandarin: 沒有 /没有 (méiyǒu) — not having
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無 /无 (wú) — not having
  • Ngazidja Comorian: pvatsina — not having
  • Cornish: heb — not having
  • Czech: bez — not having
  • Czech: beze — not having
  • Dalmatian: siansa — not having
  • Danish: uden — not having
  • Danish: foruden — not having
  • Dutch: zonder — not having
  • Esperanto: sen — not having
  • Faroese: uttan — not having
  • Finnish: ilman — not having
  • Finnish: vailla — not having
  • French: sans — not having
  • French: pas de — not having
  • French: avec pas de — not having
  • French: hormis — not having
  • French: à l'exclusion de — not having
  • Old French: sans — not having
  • Old French: sanz — not having
  • Old French: senz — not having
  • West-Frisian: sûnder — not having
  • Friulian: cence — not having
  • Galician: sen — not having
  • Georgian: გარეშე (gareše) — not having
  • Georgian: უ- -ო (u- -o) — not having
  • Georgian: უ- -ოდ (u- -od) — not having
  • German: ohne — not having
  • German: ooni — not having
  • Gothic: 𐌹𐌽𐌿 (inu) — not having
  • Greek: χωρίς (chorís) — not having
  • Greek: δίχως (díchos) — not having
  • Greek: άνευ (ánef) — not having
  • Ancient Greek: ἄνευ (áneu) — not having
  • Ancient Greek: χωρίς (khōrís) — not having
  • Ancient Greek: ἄτερ (áter) — not having
  • Gujarati: વગર (vagar) — not having
  • Gujarati: વિના ( (vinā) — not having
  • Haitian Creole: san — not having
  • Hawaiian: nele — not having
  • Hawaiian: ʻole — not having
  • Hebrew: בְּלִי (bli) — not having
  • Hebrew: לְלֹא (leló) — not having
  • Hebrew: בִּלְעַד (bil'ád) — not having
  • Hindi: ...के बिना (...ke binā) — not having
  • Hindi: बग़ैर (baġair) — not having
  • Hindi: बिना (binā) — not having
  • Hindi: विना (vinā) — not having
  • Hungarian: nélkül — not having
  • Icelandic: án — not having
  • Ido: sen — not having
  • Indonesian: tanpa — not having
  • Ingrian: ilman — not having
  • Interlingua: sin — not having
  • Irish: gan — not having
  • Istriot: sensa — not having
  • Italian: senza — not having
  • Japanese: ...なしで (...nashi de) — not having
  • Japanese: ...無し (...nashi) — not having
  • Kazakh: -сыз (-syz) — not having
  • Kazakh: -сіз (-sız) — not having
  • Khmer: គ្មាន (kmiən) — not having
  • Khmer: ដោយគ្មាន (daoy kmiən) — not having
  • Korean: ...없이 (...eopsi) — not having
  • Korean: ...없으면 (...eopseumyeon) — not having
  • Central Kurdish: بێ (bê) — not having
  • Central Kurdish: بەبێ (bebê) — not having
  • Northern Kurdish: bê — not having
  • Kyrgyz: -сыз (-sız) — not having
  • Ladino: sin — not having
  • Lao: ບໍ່ (bǭ) — not having
  • Lao: ປອດ (pǭt) — not having
  • Lao: ຢ່າງໄຮ້ (yāng hai) — not having
  • Latgalian: bez — not having
  • Latin: sine — not having
  • Latin: absque — not having
  • Latvian: bez — not having
  • Lithuanian: be — not having
  • Livonian: ilmõ — not having
  • Livonian: īlma — not having
  • Livonian: bäs — not having
  • Luxembourgish: ouni — not having
  • Macedonian: без (bez) — not having
  • Malay: تنڤا — not having
  • Malay: تيدق اد — not having
  • Malay: تيدق بر- — not having
  • Malay: سوندر — not having
  • Malay: tanpa — not having
  • Malay: tidak ada — not having
  • Malay: tidak ber- — not having
  • Malay: sonder — not having
  • Maltese: mingħajr — not having
  • Māori: kore — not having
  • Eastern Mari: укеште (ukešte) — not having
  • Mongolian: -гүй (-güj) — not having
  • Mongolian: үгүй (ügüj) — not having
  • Mongolian: -ᠭᠦᠢ (-güi) — not having
  • Mongolian: ᠦᠭᠡᠢ (ügei) — not having
  • Navajo: tʼáágééd — not having
  • Norman: sans — not having
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uten — not having
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utan — not having
  • Occitan: sens — not having
  • Old Occitan: ses — not having
  • Old English: būtan — not having
  • Old Norse: án — not having
  • Ossetian: ӕнӕ (ænæ) — not having
  • Papiamentu: sin — not having
  • Pashto: بې (be) — not having
  • Dari: بی (bē) — not having
  • Dari: بدون (bidūn-i) — not having
  • Dari: فاقد (fāqid) — not having
  • Iranian Persian: بی (bi) — not having
  • Iranian Persian: بدون (bedun-e) — not having
  • Iranian Persian: فاقد (fâqed) — not having
  • Phoenician: 𐤃𐤋 (dl) — not having
  • Pitjantjatjara: wiya — not having
  • Polish: bez — not having
  • Polish: beze — not having
  • Portuguese: sem — not having
  • Punic: 𐤁𐤉 (by) — not having
  • Quechua: -nnaq — not having
  • Rapa Nui: kokore — not having
  • Réunion Creole French: san — not having
  • Romagnol: sénza — not having
  • Romanian: fără — not having
  • Russian: без (bez) — not having
  • Northern Sami: taga — not having
  • Northern Sami: haga — not having
  • Northern Sami: hahttá — not having
  • Sanskrit: विना (vinā) — not having
  • Sardinian: sène — not having
  • Sardinian: sèna — not having
  • Sardinian: chèntza — not having
  • Scottish Gaelic: gun — not having
  • Scottish Gaelic: às aonais — not having
  • Serbo-Croatian: бѐз — not having
  • Serbo-Croatian: bèz — not having
  • Slovak: bez — not having
  • Slovene: brez — not having
  • Lower Sorbian: bźez — not having
  • Spanish: sin — not having
  • Spanish: sen — not having
  • Swahili: bila — not having
  • Swedish: utan — not having
  • Swedish: renons — not having
  • Tajik: бе (be) — not having
  • Thai: ไร้ (rái) — not having
  • Thai: ไม่มี (mâi-mii) — not having
  • Turkish: -siz — not having
  • Turkish: -sız — not having
  • Turkish: -suz — not having
  • Turkish: -süz — not having
  • Turkmen: -syz — not having
  • Ukrainian: без (bez) — not having
  • Urdu: ... کے بنا (... ke binā) — not having
  • Urdu: کے بنا (ke binā) — not having
  • Urdu: بغیر (baġair) — not having
  • Urdu: بدون (badūn) — not having
  • Uzbek: -siz — not having
  • Venetan: sensa — not having
  • Vietnamese: không có — not having
  • Volapük: nen — not having
  • Võro: ilma — not having
  • Walloon: sins — not having
  • Welsh: heb — not having
  • Yaghnobi: бе (be) — not having
  • Yiddish: אָן (on) — not having
Real reading context

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