Visibilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being visible or able to be seen by observers
2. The degree to which something can be easily perceived or recognized, particularly regarding clarity in visual conditions
3. A measure of how clearly and distinctly objects can be seen in a given environment, often influenced by factors like weather or lighting

Etymology: "Visibilities" is simply the plural of "visibility", so it names several distinct degrees of being seen, such as the clarity of air on different days or in different places. The singular comes from Middle French "visibilité", which was borrowed from Late Latin "visibilitas". That Late Latin noun was formed from "visibilis", meaning "visible", with the Latin suffix "-itas" attached, which turns an adjective into a noun of quality. The English word is therefore built from "visible" plus the suffix "-ity", a pairing that works the same way as "ability" or "clarity". Seen this way, "visibility" is a noun about how far the quality of being visible extends, and the plural simply counts those extents.

Synonyms: clarity, transparency, brightness, openness, visibility

Antonyms: opacity, ambiguity, obscurity, dimness, cloudiness