Aggressivity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic of exhibiting hostile behavior or a readiness to engage in conflict, alongside a physical property describing a substance's ability to strongly interact with its surroundings
2. This term refers to a disposition for aggression or conflict initiation, and in a scientific context, it describes a substance's intense interaction with other materials
3. A tendency to act in a hostile or confrontational manner ; a property of a material that causes it to interact forcefully with other substances

Etymology: "Aggressivity" is a plain formation: the adjective "aggressive" with the suffix "-ity" added to make a noun of quality. The adjective itself came into English from "aggress," which descends from Latin "aggredi," meaning "to approach" or "to attack," built from "ad-" ("to") and "gradi" ("to step" or "walk"). So the core idea is simply stepping toward something, and the sense of hostility developed later within the Latin and English uses. The suffix does the work here. "-ity" arrived through Old French "-ité" from Latin "-itas," and attaches to adjectives to name the state or quality they describe, as in "stupidity" or "curiosity." Speakers joined it to "aggressive" to name the quality of being aggressive, and the noun has been used both for a general behavioural tendency and, in chemistry, for a substance's vigorous reactivity with other materials.

Synonyms: aggressiveness, hostility

Antonyms: passivity, gentleness