provisionalnessn.
/prəˈvɪʒn̩əlnəs/, /prəˈvɪʒn̩l̩nəs/, /prəˈvɪʒənl̩nəs/, /prəˈvɪʒ(ə)nəlnəs/, U.S. /prəˈvɪʒənlnəs/, /proʊˈvɪʒənlnəs/; see also provisional adj. and n. The quality of being provisional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [noun] > quality of being temporary or provisional
temporariness1695
temporaneousness1727
provisionality1821
provisionalness1874
the mind > language > speech > agreement > [noun] > terms of agreement > a condition or stipulation > quality of being conditional
provisionality1821
provisionalness1874
1874 J. Morley On Compromise 168 It is no reason why those who allow the provisional utility of a belief or an institution or a custom of living, should think solely of the utility and forget the equally important element of its provisionalness.
1891 T. K. Cheyne Bampton Lect. p. xxviii Our arguments must for the most part bear the stamp of provisionalness.
1941 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 1 338 This knowledge is permanently in need of being confirmed by further apprehensions... In this sense the ego's being carries with it a certain character of provisionalness.
1960 B. C. Butler Church & Bible ii. 75 The Jewish dispensation..had therefore an element of provisionalness.
2000 Arena Mag. (Nexis) 1 Dec. 35 Imagine the emotional consequences of such endemic emigration..the provisionalness of the commitments of those for whom emigration was always there as an opt out clause.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1874