See also: ness and Ness

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From 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

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Suffix

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-ness

  1. 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)".
    calm + ‎-ness → ‎calmness
    dark + ‎-ness → ‎darkness
    kind + ‎-ness → ‎kindness
    one + ‎-ness → ‎oneness
  2. 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.
    that + ‎-ness → ‎thatness
    tree + ‎-ness → ‎treeness
    thug + ‎-ness → ‎thugness

Usage notes

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  • 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 messmessymessiness (hence -y-i-), but also in other cases, as in comelycomeliness. It does not, however, usually occur when the -y is part of the root, as in spryspryness.
  • Plurals are formed by adding -es, e.g. happinesshappinesses.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Suffix

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-ness

  1. Alternative form of -nesse

Old English

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Pronunciation

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Suffix

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-ness

  1. Alternative form of -nes

Declension

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Strong ō-stem:

singular plural
nominative -ness -nessa, -nesse
accusative -nesse -nessa, -nesse
genitive -nesse -nessa
dative -nesse -nessum

References

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Scots

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English -nes, -nesse, from Old English -nis, -nes, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī.

Suffix

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-ness

  1. Affixed to adjectives to form abstract nouns which denote a quality, state or condition.