'locklessness' originates from English, specifically composed of the word 'lock' and the suffixes '-less' and '-ness', where 'lock' meant 'a fastening device', '-less' meant 'without', and '-ness' meant 'state or quality'.

'locklessness' evolved by combining Old English elements: 'loc' (Old English for 'lock') with 'lēas' (Old English ancestor of '-less', meaning 'without') and 'nes(s)e' (Old English ancestor of '-ness', forming abstract nouns), producing the Modern English compound 'locklessness'.

Initially, 'lock' referred to a physical fastening device and the compound would denote the absence of such physical locks; over time the term has additionally taken on a specialized technical meaning in computing referring to algorithms and systems that operate without locks (lock-free mechanisms).