sweetness

English

Alternative forms

sweetnesse (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English swetnes, swetnesse, from Old English swētnes (“sweetness”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōtinassī (“sweetness”), equivalent to sweet +‎ -ness. Cognate with West Frisian swietens (“sweetness”), obsolete Dutch zoetenis (“sweetness”), Old High German swuoznessi, suoznessi (“sweetness”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: swēt'nəs, IPA^(key): /ˈswiːtnəs/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈswitnəs/
Audio (General American): (file)
Hyphenation: sweet‧ness

Noun

sweetness (countable and uncountable, plural sweetnesses)

The condition of being sweet (all senses).
A pleasant disposition; kindness.
Ruth's overwhelming sweetness made Robert forget about his hopelessly low school grades.
The quality of giving pleasure to the mind or senses, pleasantness, agreeableness.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:
  The thirſt of raigne and ſweetnes of a crowne, […] / Moou’d me to menage armes againſt thy ſtate.
(informal) Term of address for one's sweetheart.
- 1986, The Smiths (band), Bigmouth Strikes Again (song)
  Sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking when I said / I'd like to smash every tooth in your head.
- 2011, Kimberly Gibney, Over the Edge, page 66:
  "Hey sweetness," he said. "How was practice?"

Derived terms

sweetness and light

Translations

condition of being sweet or sugary

Afrikaans: soetheid
Albanian: ëmbëlsi (sq) f
Arabic: حَلَاوَةٌ f (ḥalāwatun)
Aromanian: dultseatsã f
Asturian: dulzura (ast) f
Azerbaijani: şirinlik
Bulgarian: сладост (bg) f (sladost)
Catalan: dolçor (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 甜味 (zh) (tiánwèi)
Crimean Tatar: tatlılıq
Czech: sladkost (cs) f
Danish: sødme c
Dutch: zoetheid (nl) f
Esperanto: dolĉeco
Finnish: makeus (fi)
Franco-Provençal: doçor f
Galician: dozura f
Georgian: სიტკბო (siṭḳbo), სიტკბოება (siṭḳboeba)
German: Süßigkeit (de) f
Greek: γλύκα (el) f (glýka), γλυκύτητα (el) f (glykýtita)
Ancient: γλυκύτης f (glukútēs)
Hebrew: מתיקות f (metikút)
Hungarian: édesség (hu)
Icelandic: sætleik f
Italian: dolcezza (it) f
Japanese: 甘さ (ja) (あまさ, amasa)
Kazakh: тәттілік (tättılık)
Korean: 단맛 (ko) (danmat), 감미 (ko) (gammi)
Kyrgyz: таттуулук (ky) (tattuuluk)
Latin: dulcēdō f, dulcitās f, dulcitūdō f, dulcor m, mellinia f, suāvitās f
Latvian: saldums m
Malay: manis (ms)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sødme m, søthet m or f

Nynorsk: søtleik m
Occitan: doçor (oc) f
Old English: swētnes f
Polish: słodycz (pl) f
Portuguese: doçura (pt) f
Romanian: dulceață (ro)
Russian: сла́дость (ru) f (sládostʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: slatkòća f
Spanish: dulzura (es) f, dulzor m, melosidad f, dulcedumbre f
Swedish: sötma (sv) c
Tatar: татлылык (tt) (tatlılıq)
Thai: ความหวาน (th) (kwaam-wǎan)
Turkish: tatlılık (tr)
Ukrainian: соло́дкість f (solódkistʹ)
Uzbek: totlilik
Welsh: melyster m
Yiddish: זיסקײַט f (ziskayt)

pleasant disposition — see also kindness

Afrikaans: soetheid
Albanian: ëmbëlsi (sq) f
Azerbaijani: şirinlik
Bulgarian: ласкавост (bg) f (laskavost)
Catalan: dolçor (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 甜美 (zh) (tiánměi)
Danish: sødme c
Dutch: zoetheid (nl) f
Esperanto: amindeco
Finnish: herttaisuus (fi)
Galician: dozura f
German: Süßigkeit (de) f
Hungarian: kedvesség (hu)
Icelandic: sætleik f
Italian: dolcezza (it) f
Latin: suavitudo f
Latvian: saldums m
Polish: słodycz (pl) f
Portuguese: doçura (pt) f
Romanian: dulceață (ro)
Russian: доброду́шие (ru) n (dobrodúšije), доброта́ (ru) f (dobrotá)
Serbo-Croatian: slatkost (sh) m
Spanish: agradabilidad f
Turkish: tatlılık (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

German: ^{(please verify)} Süße (de) f
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} mìlseachd f

Anagrams

wetnesses