▪ I. reckless, a.
(ˈrɛklɪs)
Forms: α. 1 recci-, recceléas, 4 recchelees, rechcheles, 4–6 retche-, 4–7 retchless, (7 wretch-); 1 receléas, 2–6 recheles, (6–7 -lesse, 6 rechelles), 6–7 reachless; 6 rache-, riche-; 3 rechyles, 5 rechilesse, richilees. β. 3 reckelæs, 4–6 rekke-, 6–7 reckeless; 4 rec(c)-, 4–6 rek-, 6– reckless, (9 wreck-); 4–6 reke-, 6 reak, 6–7 wreak(e)less. north. and Sc. 4–6 rakless, (4–5 -lese), 6–8 rackless; 4–5 rakelese.
[OE. recceléas (early recciléas) and réceléas = MDu. (and Du.) roekeloos, MLG. rôkelôs, OHG. ruachalôs (MHG. ruochelôs, G. ruchlos), f. OE. *recce, *rēce = OHG. ruacha, rocha care (see reck v.) + -léas -less.
The α-forms are very common from c 1375 to 1650; those with k are originally northern, and are rarely found in southern writers before the second half of the 16th c.]
1. Of persons: Careless, heedless. a. Careless in respect of († one's conduct, reputation, or) the consequences of one's actions; lacking in prudence or caution.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. 1646 Præfaricator, reccileas. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §3 Ðu wendest ðætte stiorlease men & recelease wæren ᵹesælie. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 47/17 Wylde Men ne louede he nouȝt, þat rechelese weren of þouȝte. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 2 Wolleward and wete-shoed went I..As a reccheles [v.r. recheles] renke, that of no wo reccheth. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 670 Ever after forsothe a parfyt lever was he, Þe whyche hadde be a ful rechelesse womon byfore. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxlvi. 311 In his yougthe he had ben wyld and recheles. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 113 Thys intaylyng..makyth many rechles heyrys. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 25 Of him that is an idle glutton at home, or a retchlesse vnthrift abroad. 1666 Bp. S. Parker Free & Impart. Censure (1667) 183 To reform a debauch'd and wretchlesse child. |
| β c 1400 Cursor M. 27772 (Cott. Galba) He es rekles in word and dede, in tyme when he of both has nede. c 1400 Rule St. Benet 6/14 Þa þat ere fraward and recles, hede þaim þe straiter. 14.. Battle of Otterbourn 53 The roo full rekeless ther sche runnes, To make the game and gle. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xc. 58 [When one] is rekless in his governance,..That man is abill to fall ane gret mischance. a 1585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 595 They are bot rakles, ȝoung and rasche. 1613 R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Recklesse, rash, carelesse. a 1667 Cowley (J.), Next this was drawn the reckless cities flame When a strange hell pour'd down from heaven there came. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Cui Bono? ii, Ye reckless dupes, who hither wend your way. 1829 Lytton Disowned iii, I became bold, reckless and adventurous. 1879 Dixon Windsor II. vi. 63 A rough and reckless soldier, caring for nothing but a fight. |
† b. Careless in respect of some duty or task; negligent, inattentive.
Obs.| α a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xi[ii]. (1890) 190 Ymb þa ᵹemænne his ecre hælo [he] wæs to sæne & to receleas. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 39 He..hloneð and slepeð and synegeð on gemeleste alse he þat is recheles. a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 245 Alle hit [v.r. ha] beoð untohene & rechelese hinen, bute ȝef he ham rihte. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 361 He was recheles a morwe, and wolde nouȝt come or he hadde i-ete. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. v. 307 Thei ouȝten not be ouer myche recheles in lesing her godis. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §7 He that wyll..be slouthefull, recheles, and not diligent. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 21 A retcheles [v.r. reachelesse] seruant, a mistres that scowles. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes 45 The carelessness and slothfulness of retchless servants. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1048 Reachless or careless. |
| β c 1200 Ormin 932 Ȝiff þat he wære reckelæs To ringen hise belless. a 1300 Cursor M. 28269 Mi childer als and my menȝe a reckeles leder þai fand me. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5802 Whaswa es rekles and kepes it ille, He sal be aresoned. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Mary Egypt) 1281 Repentand hyme..he had (bene) þane sa raklase þat hyre name nocht had he speryt. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 428/2 Rekkeles, necgligens, incurius. 1483 Cath. Angl. 299/2 Rakles (A. Rakelese), ignavius, necligens, & cetera, vbi slawe. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. vi. 7 So flies the wreaklesse shepherd from y⊇ Wolfe. |
† c. Having no care or consideration for oneself or another.
Obs. rare.
| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 340 To sorowe was she ful ententyf, That woful recchelesse caityf. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. ii. 52 More to be reueng'd on Eglamoure, Then for the loue of reck-lesse Siluia. 1717 Ramsay Elegy Lucky Wood ii, Rackless Death, wha came unsenn To Lucky Wood. |
2. Heedless or careless
of something.
| a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. xlix. (1883) 258 note, To hwam wurde þu swa receleas þæra ᵹyfena (ðe ic ðe ᵹeaf). c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xvi. (Magdalene) 290 Gyf scho ware mare rakles of It,..scho suld rew it farly sare. a 1547 Surrey in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 17 Retchlesse of his life, he gan both sighe and grone. 1631 Celestina ii. 33 The cause of your growing carelesse and wretchlesse both of your body, soule, and goods. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 1074 Retchless of laws, affects to rule alone. 1791 Cowper Odyss. vi. 356 Reckless of her parents' will. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude v. 118 He hurried on Reckless of me. 1849 Grote Greece (1862) III. xlii. 521 This unfortunate man had become reckless of life. 1887 R. Lodge Mod. Europe xxii. §16 (1897) 517 The king's brothers..were utterly reckless of the dangers to which their conduct exposed Louis XVI. |
| transf. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such ii. 41 Hedgerows reckless of utility. |
3. Of actions, conduct, things, etc.: Characterized or distinguished by (
† negligent carelessness or) heedless rashness.
| α 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 207/1 The good meane maner betwene scrupulouse superstition and rechlesse negligence. 1559 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xlvi, Death..With retcheles hande in grave doth couer it. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxiii. (1887) 119 Being full of excrementes by reason of ther reacheles diet. 1633 Prynne 1st Pt. Histrio-m. 157 Too deare a price for so fruitlesse, so wretchlesse a purchase. a 1640 Jackson Creed x. xxxv. §6 A retchless temper or neglective content in living from hand to mouth. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 12315 O barns an..Brak þe pott..wit wil or wit recles dint. c 1400 Rule St. Benet 69/857 Of slike rekles warkes Sais haly writ [etc.]. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 455, I haiff tynt men throw my (our) rakless deid. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xv. 34 Asking wald haif convenient place..But hairt abasit, but toung rekless. 1581 T. Howell Deuises (1879) 236 A troubled wyt, a reaklesse hande, a wrathfull hart to spill. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 109 Rekles negligence in preicheng the worde of God. 1721 Kelly Sc. Proverbs 284 Rackless Youth makes rueful Age. 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. 3 He had lost..all the reckless play of raillery which gave vivacity to his original acting. 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. vi. 216 A system of small landed properties..is supposed to encourage a reckless increase of population. |
4. quasi-adv. Recklessly. Also
Comb.| c 1430 Hymns Virg. 62 Quod leccherie, ‘þi seed richelees þou schake, And make no force of no mariage’. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 270 Than ane Mawthland rakless betwixt thaim past. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts i. vi b, What daunger it wer for vs negligently and recheles to execute thoffice, whiche we take in hande. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 950 Through the forest rechlesse they did goe. 1866 Blackie Homer & Iliad I. 163 The hurly-burly of reckless-shifting war. |
▪ II. † ˈreckless, v. Obs. Also 6
Sc. rakles.
[OE. réceléasian (= OHG. ruahha-, ruachalôsôn), f. réceléas reckless a. In later use only Sc., and perh. formed anew from the adj.] trans. To neglect; to be negligent or heedless of (a thing). Also
refl. and absol.| a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. xlix. (1883) 258 To hwon receleasedest þu þære ᵹife, þe ic þe ᵹeaf. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iii. 26 Rekles nocht ȝour eirand for the rane. 1567 Q. Mary in Keith Hist. Scot. (1734) I. 391 Albeit he [Bothwell] hes in some Pointis or Ceremoneis raklest himself. a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxiii. 31 Quhair I haif recklest, I recant. |