Adequatenesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being sufficient to meet a particular need or standard
2. The degree to which something effectively fulfills a requirement or necessity
3. The extent to which various conditions or criteria are satisfactorily met in a given context

Etymology: "Adequatenesses" is simply the plural of "adequateness," so the real story belongs to the base word. "Adequate" came into English from Latin "adaequatus," the past participle of "adaequare," meaning "to make equal to," built from "ad-" ("to") and "aequus" ("equal"). The original sense was of things being level or matched with one another, which is why the idea of measuring up to a standard still sits at its heart. The noun "adequateness" was formed in English by attaching the suffix "-ness" to "adequate," a pattern that turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. The suffix itself has deep roots in Old English "-nes," which was used to form abstract nouns from adjectives throughout the language's history. The plural "adequatenesses" is rare, since "adequateness" is itself an uncommon noun that most speakers would express with "adequacy" instead.

Synonyms: sufficiencies, sufficientness

Antonyms: insufficiency, inadequacy