-nesssuffix

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian -nisse , Middle Dutch -nisse , -nesse , -nis (Dutch †-nis ), Old Saxon -nissi , -nessi , -nussi (also -nissea ; Middle Low German -nisse , -nesse , -nüsse ), Old High German -nissi , -nessi , -nassi , -nussi , (also -nissa ; Middle High German -nisse , -nis , -nüsse , -nus , German †-nis ), Gothic -inassus , -nassus < the -n- of Germanic n -stems + the Germanic base of -assu- , the suffix attested in Gothic ufarassus abundance ( < ufar , see over adv.), Old English efnes equality ( < emnettan to make even, efn even adj.¹ and n.²) < the suffix found in Gothic lauhatjan to flash like lightning and in Old English emnettan to make even + the Germanic base of -th suffix¹ ( < the same Indo-European base as the suffix attested in e.g. ford n.¹ or classical Latin mōtus : see mote n.³). The variations in the vowel of the West Germanic forms have not been satisfactorily explained. No evidence of the suffix can be found in North Germanic.In the Germanic languages, the suffix was at first mainly, but not exclusively, used on weak verb stems, but is later more often used to form nouns from adjectives. Compare ancient Greek -αστυς , -ιστυς in nouns formed from verbs in -αζειν , -ιζειν (see -ize suffix), Early Irish -es , -as , mainly in denominative formations (e.g. Early Irish ólachas youth < ólach young man; compare Welsh teyrnas dominion < teyrn lord). In Old English -nes is the suffix most usually attached to adjectives and past participles to form nouns expressing a state or condition. A large number of these, such as bitterness n., darkness n., drunkenness n., hardness n., etc., survive in Middle English and modern English, and new formations of the same type have been continually made in all periods of the language, it being possible to add the suffix to any adjective or participle, whatever its form or origin may be. Formations from compound adjectives are also common from the 16th cent. onwards, as kindheartedness n., self-conceitedness n. at self-conceited adj. Derivatives, square-toedness n. at square-toed adj. Derivatives, tongue-tiedness n. at tongue-tied adj. Derivatives, watertightness n., etc. Formations from nouns, though much less common, have been made in all periods from Old English onwards: some have been short-lived, e.g. lifeness n. (16th cent.), wonderness n. (Middle English); but some have achieved more general currency, e.g. milkness n., womanness n., and pre-eminently witness n., or have been recoined in later periods, e.g. belongingness n. (17th and 20th centuries), noseness n. (16th and 20th centuries). wilderness n. (early Middle English) is unusual in having primarily concrete reference, though for other formations with early concrete senses compare buriness n. b, fastness n. 8, highness n. 1b, and deepness n. 6; and compare also business n. Formations on verbs date mainly from Old English and Middle English but are few and generally rare, e.g. aleseness n., mendness n. Formations on pronouns, adverbs, etc., as downness n., I-ness n., me-ness n., whyness n., etc., tend to be restricted to specialized spheres but are well-established within them; some such formations, e.g. my-ness n., nowness n., and whatness n., date back to the 17th cent. Formations from adjectival and adverbial phrases, such as at-oneness n. at at one adv. Compounds, donothingness n. at do-nothing n. and adj. Derivatives, made-to-order-ness n. at made-to-order adj. Derivatives, on-the-make-ness n., up-to-dateness n. at up to date adv. and adj. Derivatives, used-upness n. at used up adj. Derivatives are not uncommon as a class, but few of them individually are in established or serious use, and most have arisen since the early 19th cent. In Middle English and early modern English the initial consonant of the suffix is occasionally omitted when preceded by another n ; compare forms s.vv. brownness n., cleanness n., keenness n., meanness n.², etc., and note s.v. finesse n.