sickerness

S1I1C3K5E1R1N1E1S1S1

noun

the state, condition, or quality of being certain; certainty; assurance.

OriginMiddle English sikirnes ← Old English sicornes →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounsickerness (uncountable)
  1. obsoleteuncountablethe state, condition, or quality of being certain; certainty; assurance.
  2. archaicuncountablesecurity; safety; freedom from danger.

    Lightly she leaped, as a wight forlore, / From her dull horse, in desperate distresse, / And to her feet betooke her doubtfull sickernesse.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
    1 more example

    Comprehending the world casual and transitory, Who list to consider shall never be beguiled, If it be regist'red well in memory; A plain example of worldly vainglory: How in this world there is no sickerness, But fallible flattery enmixed with bitterness.

    1980, John Skelton, Paula Neuss, Magnificence - Page 215

Origin

  1. Old Englishsicornes“certainty; secureness”
  2. Middle Englishsikirnes
  3. Englishsickerness

From Middle English sikirnes, sikernesse, Old English sicornes (“certainty; secureness”), equivalent to sicker (“secure”) + -ness.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sickerness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sickerness

MLA

“sickerness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sickerness. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sickerness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sickerness.

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