Identicalness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The attribute of being completely alike without any variation is recognized as perfect homogeneity
2. The characteristic of being indistinguishable from another or having no variation at all is referred to as absolute similarity
3. The quality of two or more things being exactly the same in every respect

Etymology: "Identicalness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "identical" with the suffix "-ness" attached. "Identical" itself comes from the Latin "identicus," built from "idem," meaning "the same," with the adjective-forming suffix "-al" (from Latin "-alis") passing into English through Old French. The root "idem" also gave English words such as "identity," which points to the same core idea of sameness. The suffix "-ness" has a much older Germanic pedigree. It descends from Old English "-nes," a noun-forming ending that could be attached to adjectives to name the quality they describe, so "good" became "goodness" and "dark" became "darkness." Attaching it to "identical" produces a noun for the abstract state of being identical, which is why the word reads as a measured, slightly bureaucratic way of saying "sameness."

Synonyms: similarity, uniformity, sameness, equivalence, matching

Antonyms: difference, disparity, dissimilarity, inequality, diversity