Erectness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition characterized by being in an upright position while retaining firmness and rigidity in stance or structure
2. The quality of standing straight with firmness and steady balance
3. The state of maintaining a vertically aligned and stable form

Etymology: "Erectness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "erect" with the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. The suffix has a long pedigree of its own. It descends from an Old English "-nes", which in turn traces back through Germanic forms to an ancient ending used to build abstract nouns, so the word's final syllable is one of the oldest working parts of English vocabulary. The base word, "erect", arrived in English from Latin "erectus", the past participle of "erigere", meaning "to set up" or "raise up" (from "e-", "out", and "regere", "to make straight"). That literal sense of raising something to a vertical position is what "erectness" keeps. The noun describes the state of being upright and firm, whether applied to a body, a column, or a posture.

Synonyms: uprightness, verticality, perpendicularity

Antonyms: slouching, bending, falling