Rednesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The archaic quality or condition of being red in colour, as in the hue of a blush or a ruddy complexion
2. An old word for the state of possessing a red colour, especially the flushed look of a face or a reddened surface
3. Archaic term for redness, the reddish hue or colouring that something displays or shows to the eye

Etymology: "Rednesse" is an archaic English noun meaning redness, formed by adding the suffix "-nesse" to the adjective "red." That suffix comes from Old English "-nes(s)", a common device for turning adjectives into nouns of state or quality, as in "goodness" and "darkness." The "-nesse" spelling with a final e was typical of Middle English, when many English nouns took a final e in writing. The root "red" is one of the oldest words in the language, inherited from Old English "rēad" and tracing back to a Germanic and ultimately Indo-European colour word. The noun form could be used for the quality of being red in general, and writers of the medieval and early modern periods used it for both literal colouring and figurative flushing, such as a blush of shame. Because the suffix is productive, "rednesse" was one of many such formations, and it was later replaced in standard English by the plain "redness," which kept the same meaning and suffix with the modern spelling.