-ness
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English -nes, -nesse, from Old English -nis, -nes, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī, from Proto-Germanic *-inassuz.
This suffix was formed already in Proto-Germanic by false division of the final consonant *-n- of the preceding stem + the actual suffix *-assuz. The latter was in turn derived from an earlier *-at(s)-tuz, from the verbal suffix *-at-janą + the noun suffix *-þuz.
Pronunciation
editSuffix
edit-ness
- Appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being (the adjective)", "the quality of being (the adjective)", or "the measure of being (the adjective)".
- Appended to words of other parts of speech to form nouns (often nonce words or terms in philosophy) meaning the state/quality/measure of the idea represented by these words.
Usage notes
edit- If an adjective ends in -y, then this changes to -i- when -ness is suffixed. This occurs both when the -y is the suffix -y (“having the quality of”), as in mess → messy → messiness (hence -y → -i-), but also in other cases, as in comely → comeliness. It does not, however, usually occur when the -y is part of the root, as in spry → spryness.
- Plurals are formed by adding -es, e.g. happiness → happinesses.
Synonyms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
editappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
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Anagrams
editMiddle English
editSuffix
edit-ness
- Alternative form of -nesse
Old English
editPronunciation
editSuffix
edit-ness
- Alternative form of -nes
Declension
editStrong ō-stem:
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | -ness | -nessa, -nesse |
accusative | -nesse | -nessa, -nesse |
genitive | -nesse | -nessa |
dative | -nesse | -nessum |
References
edit- Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “-ness”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scots
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English -nes, -nesse, from Old English -nis, -nes, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī.
Suffix
edit-ness
- Affixed to adjectives to form abstract nouns which denote a quality, state or condition.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English suffixes
- English noun-forming suffixes
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English suffixes
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English suffixes
- Old English ō-stem nouns
- Scots terms inherited from Middle English
- Scots terms derived from Middle English
- Scots terms inherited from Old English
- Scots terms derived from Old English
- Scots terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Scots terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Scots lemmas
- Scots suffixes