Whitenesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of reflecting all visible light, appearing as bright and colorless as fresh snow ; a state of moral purity, innocence or freedom from sin
2. The pale, bright appearance of something that reflects light fully ; the untainted cleanness of a soul free from wrongdoing or guilt
3. A bright, colorless look like new snow or milk ; the spotless innocence associated with a pure and unblemished character

Etymology: "Whitenesse" is an Early Modern English spelling of "whiteness," with the final "-e" and doubled "s" typical of the 16th and 17th centuries, when spelling was far from standardized. The word is built from the adjective "white," which comes from Old English "hwīt," and the suffix "-ness," a native English device for turning adjectives into abstract nouns, as in "kindness" or "darkness." Nothing about the formation is unusual: it simply adds the quality of being white to the base adjective. The spelling itself is the more interesting feature. In this period writers often added a silent final "e" to nouns and doubled consonants without any consistent rule, so the same word might appear as "whitenes," "whitnesse," or "whitenesse" depending on the printer. Because printers set type by hand and spelling was local, readers of the time would have recognized all of these as the same familiar word.