Readiness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛdinəs/

Definitions

1. A state of being fully prepared and willing to act or respond immediately when needed
2. A condition of being prepared and eager to engage in action or take responsibility without delay
3. The quality of being fully equipped and motivated to respond or participate promptly when the situation arises

Etymology: "Readiness" is a plain compound: the adjective "ready" with the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun naming a state or quality. That suffix has a long pedigree. It descends from a Proto-Germanic form that also gave Old English "-nes," and by the Middle English period it had become "-nesse," the ancestor of the modern ending. "Ready" itself has a more tangled past. It comes from a Germanic root meaning roughly "prepared" or "arranged," a sense that survives in the idea of getting something ready for use. Adding "-ness" to it produces a noun for the condition of being in that prepared state, so the word began as a description of being set in order before anything else was attached to it.

Synonyms: preparedness, willingness, availability, alertness, eagerness

Antonyms: unpreparedness, reluctance, inability, disinterest, unwillingness