ness

See also: Ness and -ness

English

WOTD – 18 August 2010

Etymology

From Middle English nesse (in placenames), from Old English ness, næss, from Proto-Germanic *nasją (“promontory; ness”); cognate with Middle Low German nes, Icelandic nes, Swedish näs, Danish næs, Old Norse nes. Related to nose.

Pronunciation

• enPR: nĕs, IPA^(key): /nɛs/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɛs

Noun

ness (plural nesses)

1. (geography) A promontory; a cape or headland. (Frequently used as a suffix in placenames.)
   • 1958, Eric Rücker Eddison, Zimiamvian Trilogy‎^[1], volume 3, The Mezentian Gate, page 177:

     Velvraz Sebarm stands upon the lake, among orange-trees and pomegranates and almonds and peaches of the south, a mile north-west over the water from Zayana town, and two miles by land: an old castle built of honey-coloured marble at the tip of a long sickle-shaped ness that sweeps round southwards, with wild gardens running down in the rocks to the water’s edge, and behind the castle a wood of holm-oaks making a wind-break against the north.

Derived terms

• Girdle Ness
• Little Ness
• Shoeburyness

Related terms

• Nesting

Translations

a promontory; a cape or headland

• Armenian: հրվանդան (hy) (hrvandan)
• Bulgarian: нос (bg) m (nos)
• Danish: næs n
• Faroese: nes n
• Finnish: niemi (fi), nokka (fi)
• Icelandic: nes (is)
• Ingrian: nenä
• Macedonian: нос (mk) m (nos), 'рт m ('rt)
• Norwegian: nes (no) n
• Polish: cypel (pl) m, przylądek (pl) m
• Russian: мыс (ru) m (mys)

See also

• Nes
• Ness
• naze

References

• “ness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• The Collins English Dictionary, Collins, London & Glasgow 1986

Anagrams

• sens, NSSE, ENSs, SNES, SE SN, ESNs, Sens., Sens

Vilamovian

Etymology

From Middle High German neʒʒe, from Old High German nazī (“wetness”). Cognate with German Nässe

Noun

ness f (plural nessa)

1. rainy weather
2. wetness

Related terms

• nessa