soundness

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈsaʊndnəs/ UK /ˈsaʊndnəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being healthy, solid, or logically valid

Engineers verified the soundness of the bridge before reopening it.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being... soliditysturdinessvalidityrobustnesshealth integrity reliability

Opposites

unsoundness weakness frailty invalidity

Word family

Related forms sound

Etymology

From sound (healthy, whole) + -ness. This sound derives from Old English sund, gesund ('healthy, safe, whole'), from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz ('healthy, sound').

gesund Old English *gasundaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# soundness

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

## Meanings
1. the quality of being healthy, solid, or logically valid

## Examples
- Engineers verified the soundness of the bridge before reopening it.

## Synonyms
- solidity
- sturdiness
- validity
- robustness
- health
- integrity
- reliability

## Antonyms
- unsoundness
- weakness
- frailty
- invalidity

## Related Forms
- sound

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gesund
- Root: *gasundaz

## Etymology
From sound (healthy, whole) + -ness. This sound derives from Old English sund, gesund ('healthy, safe, whole'), from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz ('healthy, sound').

## AI Etymology
Soundness comes from sound (healthy, whole) + -ness. This sound derives from Old English sund, gesund ('healthy, safe, whole'), from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz ('healthy, sound'). The historical chain includes Old English gesund and Proto-Germanic *gasundaz. The quoted older senses, "healthy, safe, whole" and "healthy, sound", supply the semantic anchors for soundness. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word soundness carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the quality of being healthy, solid, or logically valid". Related English forms include sound. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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