Toughnesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The archaic spelling of toughness, meaning the quality of being strong, durable and hard to break or damage
2. An older form of the word for the state of being sturdy and resistant to breaking, bending or wearing out
3. Early spelling for the property of a material or person that is firm, resilient and difficult to injure or split

Etymology: "Toughness" is built entirely from native English parts, with no Latin or French ancestry. Its base, "tough", comes from Old English "tōh", which described something firm and hard to break. Its relatives in German ("zäh") and Dutch ("taai") share that sense of material that bends and holds rather than snapping. The ending "-ness" is an old English suffix, from Old English "-nes", that turns an adjective into a noun naming a quality. "Toughness" thus means literally "the state of being tough." The spelling "toughnesse" with a final "e" reflects early modern printing habits, when silent e's were added to many English words. That spelling convention was later dropped, but the word's parts have stayed the same.