Nakednesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of being unclothed or without any covering on the body
2. a condition of being exposed or vulnerable, often in a physical or metaphorical sense
3. the quality of lacking adornment or decoration, representing purity or simplicity in some contexts

Etymology: "Nakednesses" is simply the plural of "nakedness," so the history belongs to the base noun. "Nakedness" comes from Middle English "nakednesse," which descends from Old English "nacodnes," meaning the state of being naked. It was built by adding the suffix "-ness," a common English device for turning an adjective into a noun of quality, to the adjective "naked." The same pattern gave English words like "kindness" and "sadness," and West Frisian, a close relative of English, has a matching form, "neakenens." The plural form is rare. Ordinary English uses "nakedness" as an uncountable noun, so the plural appears mainly when someone wants to refer to several distinct instances or kinds of bareness, as in discussions of different forms of nakedness in art or writing.

Synonyms: nudity, bareness, exposure, unclothedness, undress

Antonyms: clothedness, covering, dressing