hardness
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- hardnesse (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English hardness, hardnesse, from Old English heardness, from heard + -ness. Equivalent to hard + -ness.
PronunciationEdit
- (General American) enPR: härdʹnəs, IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹdnəs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɑːdnəs/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: hard‧ness
NounEdit
hardness (countable and uncountable, plural hardnesses)
- The quality of being hard.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 38:37–38:
- Who can number the cloudes in wiſedom? or who can ſtay the bottles of heauen, / When the duſt groweeh[sic – meaning groweth] into hardneſſe and the clods cleaue faſt together?
- An instance of this quality; hardship.
- (inorganic chemistry) The quantity of calcium carbonate dissolved in water, usually expressed in parts per million (ppm).
- The resistance to scratching, cutting, indentation or abrasion of a metal or other solid material.
- (physics) The penetrating ability of electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays; generally, the shorter the wavelength, the harder and more penetrating the radiation.
- The measure of resistance to damage of a facility, equipment, installation, or telecommunications infrastructure when subjected to attack.
- (countable, engineering) A measure of how hard a material is
- The hardness of the material was high.
TranslationsEdit
quality of being hard
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See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- hardness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913