durity

English

Etymology

From Latin duritas, from durus (“hard”).

Noun

durity

1. (obsolete) hardness; firmness
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:

     it cometh short of their compactness and durity; and, therefore, requireth not the emery, as the saphire, granite, and topaz, but will receive impression from steel, in a manner like the turquoise.

2. (obsolete) harshness; cruelty
   • 1689, Richard Braithwaite, Remembrances of Methods, Orders, and Proceedings […] in the House of Lords:

     […] surrendred to the said John by the said William by durity and menaces

References

• “durity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• rudity