The root of "none the less" or "never the less" might be "no less" or "no less than", with "none" being tangible and "never" being temporal.
It seems to be a comparative phrase. It is usually used in the second
half of a sentence after a
comma (like the word "but" or "
even though").
"None the less" is probably often
mis-used:
"He's having a hard time learning english, none the less he is very smart."
sounds
better as . . .
"He's having a hard time learning english, but he is very smart none the less."
and the possible root term . . .
"He's having a hard time learning english, but he is no less smart for it."