a. [f. TENSE sb. + -LESS.] Having no tenses or distinctions of tense (loosely, not having the ordinary function of a tense, i.e., not expressing time); without tension. Hence Tenselessness.
1834. Ainslie, Aurungzebe, II. xvii. 50. Even the slight ivory sceptre seemed ponderous in his tenseless grasp.
1886. Tenseless [see TEMPORAL a.1 5 b].
1887. W. G. Hale, in Amer. Jrnl. Philol., April, 59. A sweeping doctrine like that of the tenselessness of all dependent subjunctives.
1889. Classical Rev., Feb., 9. Maintaining that the tenses of the subjunctive are not tenseless…, but have each their proper temporal significance.
