Rednesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state or condition characterized by the presence of a deep or vivid hue typically associated with blood or ripe fruit
2. The quality of being red, often noticeable in skin or other surfaces when inflamed or heated
3. Multiple instances of an intense color, often used to describe various shades or degrees of red in objects or environments

Etymology: "Rednesses" is simply the plural of "redness," so it is worth looking at the noun it pluralises first. Redness comes from Old English "rēadnes," formed by adding the suffix "-ness" to "red" (Old English "rēad"). The suffix is one of the most productive in English, attached to adjectives to turn a quality into a noun: "kindness" from "kind," "darkness" from "dark," and so on. In Middle English the noun appeared as "reednes" and "rednesse," spellings that show the same two parts, with the vowel of "red" still in its older form. The plural "rednesses" follows the usual pattern for nouns ending in -ness, which can be pluralised when speakers want to name several distinct kinds of the quality, as in the different reds of a painting or a sunset.