Breathless means out of breath, or full of excitement. Breathless after the climb, breathless anticipation, left me breathless.
The physical sense is a symptom and a serious one when it comes without exertion. The figurative sense borrows the same shortness for excitement — breathless anticipation, a breathless account, where the writing rushes. Note that -less means without, so breathless is literally without breath.
1adjectivebreathOut of breath.
“The children ran up the hill and arrived at the top breathless and laughing.”
2adjectivebreathlessFull of excitement.
“The children waited in breathless silence as the magician lifted the cloth.”
breathless is a state of lost breath.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰreh₁-
Proto-West Germanic
*brāþi — vapour, waft, exhalation, breath
Old English
brǣþ — odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor
Middle English
breeth
English
breath
English, today
breathless
From breath + -less. breath comes from Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA