Streakedness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being marked with long, thin lines or stripes often contrasting in color or texture; the condition of having streaks or striations present on a surface or object; the attribute of displaying elongated marks or bands that differ from the surrounding area
2. The characteristic of exhibiting narrow, linear discolorations or bands that run visibly across a surface; the state describing the presence of streaks that interrupt uniformity; the feature of having fine lines or stripes that create a patterned appearance
3. The condition characterized by the presence of slender, elongated markings that differ in shade or hue from their background; the attribute describing an object or surface as having streak-like patterns; the aspect of being streaked or lined with distinctive, often contrasting, strips or bands

Etymology: "Streakedness" is a plain formation: the adjective "streaked" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn it into a noun naming a state or quality. "Streaked" itself comes from "streak," a word of Old English origin that originally referred to a stripe or line of colour, and the adjective describes anything marked with such lines. The suffix "-ness" is one of English's oldest and most productive noun-makers, going back to Old English "-nes," and it attaches freely to adjectives to name the condition they describe. So "streakedness" simply means the quality of being streaked, the way "redness" names the quality of being red.

Synonyms: stripedness, banding, striping, marbling