hardness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhɑːrdnəs/ UK /ˈhɑːdnəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being firm, solid, or unyielding

The hardness of the granite dulled the chisel within an hour.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being firm,... firmness solidity rigidity toughnesssturdiness

Opposites

softness pliability tenderness

Word family

Related forms hard harden hardy

Etymology

From Old English heardnes, from heard ('hard') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness, from Proto-Germanic *harduz.

heard Old English *harduz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# hardness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɑːrdnəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɑːdnəs/

## Meanings
1. the quality of being firm, solid, or unyielding

## Examples
- The hardness of the granite dulled the chisel within an hour.

## Synonyms
- firmness
- solidity
- rigidity
- toughness
- sturdiness

## Antonyms
- softness
- pliability
- tenderness

## Related Forms
- hard
- harden
- hardy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: heard
- Root: *harduz

## Etymology
From Old English heardnes, from heard ('hard') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness, from Proto-Germanic *harduz.

## AI Etymology
hardness comes from Old English heardnes, from heard ('hard') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness, from Proto-Germanic *harduz. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "the quality of being firm, solid, or unyielding", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hard, harden, and hardy. Its semantic neighborhood includes firmness, solidity, rigidity, and toughness, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old English heard and Proto-Germanic *harduz.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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