Holsumnesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being good for the body, mind or soul, as an archaic English term for healthfulness
2. An archaic English noun describing the condition of being sound, healthful and conducive to well-being
3. Healthfulness or wholesomeness, a Middle English term for the state of being good and beneficial to health

Etymology: This is a Middle English spelling of "wholesomeness," the state of being wholesome. The word "holsum" comes from Old English "hālsum," formed from "hāl," meaning "whole, sound, healthy," plus the suffix "-sum," which meant "having the quality of." Old English "hāl" is also the ancestor of "hale" and "health," so the word's core sense was bodily soundness long before it came to mean something beneficial or morally sound. The "-nesse" ending is the Middle English form of "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or condition. Spellings like "holsumnesse" show the word in its medieval form, with the vowels and endings of that period. The modern "w" in "wholesome" is a later spelling change, likely made by association with "whole," which shares the same root.