Brokenness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition or quality of being damaged, fractured, or not functioning properly
2. A state in which something is impaired, cracked, or no longer whole or effective
3. The situation of having parts that are shattered, malfunctioning, or disrupted

Etymology: "Brokenness" is a straightforward formation: the adjective "broken" with the suffix "-ness" attached. That suffix is one of English's oldest and most productive tools for turning adjectives into nouns of state or quality. It descends from Old English "-nes", which in turn traces back through Proto-Germanic to a very ancient root, and it passed through Middle English "-nesse" before settling into the form we use today. "Broken" itself is the older part of the story, since it carries the physical sense of something snapped or shattered. "Brokenness" takes that concrete image and turns it into an abstraction: the condition of being in pieces, impaired, or no longer working as a whole. The same suffix gives us "happiness", "darkness" and "sadness", so "brokenness" sits in a large and well-worn family of words.

Synonyms: fracture, rupture, shattering, disintegration, splitting

Antonyms: wholeness, integrity, unity, completion, cohesion