Etymology

heathenness

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Today it means: Quality of being heathen. Full definition →

Middle English hethenesse ← Old English hǣþennes ← Proto-West Germanic *haiþinnassī
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*haiþinnassī“heathenness”
  2. Old English · inherited fromhǣþennes“heathenism, heathenry, heathendom”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromhethenesse
  4. English todayheathenness

From Middle English hethenesse, from Old English hǣþennes (“heathenism, heathenry, heathendom”), from Proto-West Germanic *haiþinnassī (“heathenness”), equivalent to heathen + -ness.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishhethenesse all →

heathenesse

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.