Oneness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. the quality of being unified into a single whole or the philosophical belief that all things share fundamental interconnectedness
2. the state of forming an indivisible entity or the spiritual conviction that distinct elements constitute one essential reality
3. The condition of being united as a single whole without division ; a concept expressing that all parts or beings are fundamentally linked as one

Etymology: "Oneness" is a plain compound: the adjective "one" with the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a state or quality (as in "kindness" or "darkness"). The "-ness" ending is itself very old, and the pairing is the native English way of expressing the state of being one. The noun has roots in Old English "ānnes," a word that covered a surprisingly wide range of ideas: unity and agreement, but also covenant and solitude. That spread shows how closely the notions of being one, being alone, and being in accord sat together for early English speakers. The same formation appears in Old High German as "einnissī," meaning unity or oneness, which points back to a shared Germanic ancestor, Proto-West Germanic "*ainnassī." In Middle English the word appeared in forms like "oonnesse" and "onnesse," and it kept the older sense of an agreed, harmonious whole rather than merely a count of one.

Synonyms: unity, wholeness, integrity, singleness

Antonyms: diversity, separation, division