Rudenesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being impolite, discourteous or offensive in manner ; an instance of boorish or insulting behavior or speech
2. Discourtesy or coarseness of conduct ; a single crude or disrespectful action or utterance
3. The state of lacking good manners, marked by insolence or vulgarity ; a particular rough or impertinent remark or deed

Etymology: "Rudenesse" is an early spelling of "rudeness," formed by adding the suffix "-ness," an Old English suffix meaning "state or quality of," to the adjective "rude." The adjective itself came into English in the 14th century from Old French "rude," which in turn came from Latin "rudis," meaning "unwrought" or "untrained." The Latin sense was physical: a rough, unfinished material such as stone or metal before it was shaped by a craftsman. From that starting point the meaning moved from "unpolished" to "uneducated" and then to "ill-mannered." The -ess spelling is simply the older form. English long wrote the suffix as "-nesse," as in "goodnesse," and the final -e faded out of common use over the 16th and 17th centuries, which is why "rudeness" looks the way it does today. The word has no separate history apart from this change in spelling.