'helplessly' originates from Old English elements: 'help' (Old English help) + the suffix '-less' meaning 'without', and the adverbial suffix '-ly' (from Old English '-lic'/'-lice') which forms adverbs.

'help' (Old English) combined with '-less' produced Middle English forms such as 'helples' or 'helpless', and the later addition of '-ly' (Old English/Middle English '-lyc'/'-lich') formed the adverb 'helplessly' in Modern English.

Initially the components meant 'without help' (literally lacking assistance); over time the compound came to convey not only absence of help but the broader sense of inability or lack of control, which is reflected in the modern adverb 'helplessly'.