Restfulnesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being quiet, calm and free from disturbance, a condition of peaceful repose
2. A calm, tranquil state in which a person or thing is free from agitation and unrest
3. Peacefulness and relaxation, the condition of being undisturbed and at ease

Etymology: Restfulnesse is an older spelling of "restfulness," and it is simply "rest" plus the suffix "-ful" (full of) and the noun-forming "-nesse," itself a Middle English form of "-ness." Its basic idea is "full of rest," a state of being at rest. The word appears in Middle English, and the spelling with a final "-e" reflects the medieval habit of adding that ending to nouns borrowed from French influence, a pattern that gave us forms like "goodnesse" beside "goodness." The "rest" in it goes back to Old English "rest" or "ræst," meaning a bed or a place to lie down, which is why sleep and repose sit close to the core of the word. Over time the sense widened from physical repose to quiet, freedom from disturbance, and the calm peacefulness the word carries now. Because the spelling changed while the word stayed in use, "restfulnesse" is mainly a historical form that you would meet in older texts rather than in modern writing.