Bodiness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of having physical substance or material presence ; the characteristic of occupying space with solidity and mass ; the condition of being defined by tangible form or structure
2. The attribute of possessing physical bulk and three-dimensional form ; the trait of existing as a material entity with weight and volume ; the aspect of manifesting concrete physical reality rather than abstractness
3. The property of exhibiting corporeal existence or substantial mass ; the feature of being perceptible through physical touch or sight ; the condition of having a palpable and measurable physical configuration

Etymology: "Bodiness" is formed from "bodi-" (the adjective "bodily" stem, rooted in "body") plus the suffix "-ness," which English uses to turn an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. The base noun "body" is inherited from Old English "bodig," and the adjective "bodily" dates to Old English as well, so the root of the word is about as old as English itself. The suffix "-ness" likewise goes back to Old English "-nes," a productive pattern that still lets speakers coin abstract nouns from adjectives on the spot. The word's use is specialized. In wine tasting and the description of other drinks, "bodiness" refers to the sensation of weight or fullness in the mouth, and its earliest recorded uses appear in that sense. Its broader meaning, the quality of having physical mass and solidity, follows from the same root, though the general sense is less common than the wine-trade one.

Synonyms: corpulence, massiveness, bulk, heftiness, plumpness

Antonyms: thinness, slenderness, skinniness, leanness, slimness