Wingedness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of possessing wings or winglike structures ; the characteristic of being capable of flight or resembling flight ; the attribute of having feathers, fins, or appendages used for soaring or gliding
2. The condition of having wings or features that enable aerial movement ; the property of being adapted to fly or glide through the air ; the aspect of exhibiting wing-related traits or a winged appearance
3. The state of exhibiting or having wings for flying or gliding ; the condition marked by possession of flight organs or aerodynamic limbs ; the feature of displaying winglike parts associated with airborne creatures or mechanisms

Etymology: "Wingedness" is a plain formation: the adjective "winged" with the suffix "-ness" attached. "Winged" is itself built from "wing" plus the adjectival ending "-ed", so the word is a compound of familiar parts rather than a borrowing from another language. The suffix "-ness" is an old English device for turning an adjective into a noun naming a quality or state, as in "kindness" or "darkness," and it has been used productively ever since to create new abstract nouns. Because of that, "wingedness" carries no hidden history. Its meaning follows directly from its parts: the state of being winged, whether that means having wings, being shaped for flight or gliding, or simply looking wing-like. The word is useful mainly in technical or descriptive writing, where a single noun for this quality saves a longer phrase.

Synonyms: flight capability, winged state, winged condition, aerial ability, winged nature

Antonyms: winglessness, flightlessness, wing-free, wingless state, wingless condition