Urbanness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of having traits typical of a city environment
2. The characteristic nature of city life and manners as opposed to rural
3. The attribute of embodying features associated with urban settings

Etymology: "Urbanness" is a plain formation: the Latin adjective "urbanus", meaning "of the city", came into English as "urban", and the English suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality, was attached to it. The result names the quality of having the features associated with cities. The more interesting story is its relationship to "urbaneness". Both words descend from the same Latin root, "urbanus", but "urbaneness" took the route of polished city manners, the sense of refinement and wit that the Latin word developed, while "urbanness" stayed closer to the plain idea of the city itself. The two are piecewise doublets: they share a source but have split apart in meaning and use, so that one now describes sophistication and the other describes the physical or cultural character of a town or city.