bienness

English

Etymology

French bien (“good, well”) +‎ -ness

Noun

bienness (uncountable)

1. (archaic) The quality of being good, wholesome, comfortable, etc.
   • 1874, William Black, A Princess of Thule, volume 1, page 36:

     Here were no haggard savages, unkempt and scantily clad, coming forth from their dens in the rocks to stare wildly at the strangers. On the contrary, there was a prevailing air of comfort and “bienness” about the people and their houses.

   • 1879, James Barr, The Old Identities: Being Sketches and Reminiscences During the First Decade of the Province of Otago, N.Z., page 338:

     [Otago's] pace has been, and even without auriferous wealth, would have continued to be, that of steady progress. Not so deliriously fast, perhaps, but in a sense which the more thoughtful can appreciate as more satisfactory; that would have yielded a description of rough bienness to the majority of the people which is always associated with […] the growth of the social and domestic virtues […]

   • 1879, Adam Lind Simpson, The Story of Sir David Wilkie: His Life and Works, page 49:

     There is a felt contrast between the two groups — the snug comfort and “bienness” of the regular inmates of the cottage, and the careworn uncertainty and meagreness which belong to the life of the others.