ness

[ nes ]
See synonyms for ness on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a headland; promontory; cape.

Origin of ness

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English -nes(s) (in placenames), in part continuing Old English næs, in part from Old Norse nes; akin to nose

Other definitions for -ness (2 of 2)

-ness

  1. a native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state): darkness; goodness; kindness; obligingness; preparedness.

Origin of -ness

2
Middle English, Old English -nes, -nis, cognate with German -nis, Gothic -(n)assus; suffix originally (unattested) -assus; -n- by false division of words with adjective and past participle stems ending in -n-; compare Old English efnes (later efen-nys ) evenness

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ness in a sentence

  • You will be in again this week, she said coaxingly, you can give me ten minutes out of your busy-ness.

    Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. Drinkwater
  • The boys took the carriage around to the barn and left it in charge of Jack ness, the man of all work.

    The Rover Boys on the Farm | Arthur M. Winfield (AKA Edward Stratemeyer)
  • The lads ran down to the barn and had Jack ness hitch up a fresh team to a buckboard.

    The Rover Boys on the Farm | Arthur M. Winfield (AKA Edward Stratemeyer)
  • This really is asking for the "man-ness" of a man, something characteristic of him, and inseparable from him.

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • I run across him five years ago in Arizona, where he had been in the stage-robbin' bus'ness.

    Two Boys in Wyoming | Edward S. Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for ness (1 of 3)

ness

/ (nɛs) /


noun
    • archaic a promontory or headland

    • (capital as part of a name): Orford Ness

Origin of ness

1
Old English næs headland; related to Old Norse nes, Old English nasu nose

British Dictionary definitions for Ness (2 of 3)

Ness

/ (nɛs) /


noun
  1. Loch Ness a lake in NW Scotland, in the Great Glen: said to be inhabited by an aquatic monster. Length: 36 km (22.5 miles). Depth: 229 m (754 ft)

British Dictionary definitions for -ness (3 of 3)

-ness

suffix forming nouns
  1. indicating state, condition, or quality, or an instance of one of these: greatness; selfishness; meaninglessness; a kindness

Origin of -ness

3
Old English -nes, of Germanic origin; related to Gothic -nassus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012