thickness

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   How thick something is; the distance between its two opposite surfaces.

   The thickness of the ice was about ten centimetres.

2. 2
   noun

   How thick a liquid or substance is; its consistency.

   Whip the cream until it reaches the right thickness.

3. 3
   noun

   A single layer of something.

   They added three thicknesses of cloth for extra comfort.

From Middle English thikkenesse, thiknesse, from Old English þicnes (“thickness, viscosity, density, hardness; obscurity, cloud, darkness; thicket; depth, a thick body, anything thick or heavy”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkwīnassī (“thickness”), equivalent to thick + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian tsjokkens (“thickness”), Old High German dickinessī, dikkinissi, diknissi (“thickness, density”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English crassitude (“thickness”) from Latin crassitūdō (“thickness”).

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