doneness

D2O1N1E1N1E1S1S1

noun

The extent to which a food has been cooked.

UncommonScrabble 9

Meanings

noundoneness (countable and uncountable, plural donenesses)

plural donenesses

  1. countableuncountableThe extent to which a food has been cooked.

    Unlike meat cookery, in which doneness is specified by customer order and determined by temperature, ...

    2010, Lou Sackett, Jaclyn Pestka, Wayne Gisslen, Professional Garde Manger: A Comprehensive Guide to Cold Food Preparation, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 91
    2 more examples

    Testing the temperature with a candy thermometer is the most accurate way to determine the doneness of a syrup.

    2004, Wayne Gisslen, Professional Baking, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 207

    In this section we look at how to test doneness of baked goods using three methods: observation, touch tests, and internal temperature.

    2011, McFadden Layton, Linda Larsen, Gluten-Free Baking For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 53
  2. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe property of being finished; completion.

    You can use a metaphor as a loose form of doneness testing. In one workshop, we used a bull's-eye. I created a poster with a bull's-eye showing concentric circles with the label "100%" in the center.

    2002, Ellen Gottesdiener, Requirements by Collaboration: Workshops for Defining Needs
    1 more example

    EVR is intended to give you objective evidence of partial doneness, something that will allow you to draw—and believe in—a picture like this: There will still be a period early in the project when progress is supported only by faith.

    2013, Tom DeMarco, Tim Lister, Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects, page 125

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰéh₁t
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰédʰeh₁ti
  5. Proto-Germanic*dōną
  6. Proto-West Germanic*dōn
  7. Old Englishdōn
  8. Middle Englishdon
  9. Englishdone
  10. Englishdoneness

From done + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kypsyysaste, kypsyys
  • kypsyysasteextent to which a food has been cooked
  • kypsyysextent to which a food has been cooked
  • valmiusasteproperty of being finished
German Garstufe
  • Garstufeextent to which a food has been cooked

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

doneness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doneness

MLA

“doneness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doneness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doneness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doneness.

Source: doneness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.