Middle English edit

Etymology edit

From harsk +‎ -nesse.

Noun edit

harsknes

  1. harshness
    • c. 1375, “Agnes”, in Legends of the Saints in the Scottish Dialect of the Fourteenth Century; Edited from the Unique Manuscript in the University Library, Cambridge with Introduction, Notes, and Glossarial Index by W[illiam] M[usham] Metcalfe, D.D., volumes I (Introduction and Text), Edinburgh, London: Printed for the [Scottish Text] Society by William Blackwood and Sons, published 1896, pages 121–126, line 349:
      & quhen faire spek cuth nocht awalȝe, with harsknes he can hir assalȝe, & manesit hire to bet & bynd & put hir al turment he mycht fynd & pyne hire, til scho granttit do his sonnis ȝarnyng.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants edit

  • English: harshness