-ness

Pronuctuation

• IPA: /nÉ™s/
• US IPA: nɪ̈s

Alternative forms

• â °â Ž

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English -nis, -nes, from Proto-Germanic *-nassuz. This suffix was formed already in Proto-Germanic by false division of the final consonant *-n- of the preceding stem + the actual suffix *-assuz. The latter was in turn derived from an earlier *-at(s)-tuz, from the verbal suffix *-at-janą + the noun suffix *-þuz.

Cognates are Old Saxon -nissi, -nussi, Dutch -nis, German -nis and Gothic -𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃, -𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃.

Full definition of -ness

Suffix

1. Appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of (the adjective)", "the quality of (the adjective)", or "the measure of (the adjective)".calmness ← calmdarkness ← darkkindness ← kindoneness ← one
2. Appended to words of other parts of speech to form nouns (often nonce words or terms in philosophy) meaning the state/quality/measure of the idea represented by these words.thatness ← thattreeness ← tree

Usage notes

If adjective ends in -y, then this changes to -i- when -ness is suffixed. This occurs both when the -y is the suffix -y ("having the quality of"), as in mess → messy → messiness (hence -y → -i-), but also in other cases, as in comely → comeliness.

Synonyms

• -dom
• -hood
• -ship
• -itas
• -itude
• -th
• -ia
• -itia
• -ity
• -ability
• -ibility
• -icity
• -osity

Derived terms