hevynesse

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hevinesse, hevynes, hevines, hevynez, hevinez, heavynesse, heavinesse, heavynes, heavines, hewynesse, hewinesse, hewynes, hewines, hevenes, hevenis, heunys, heyvenys

Etymology

From Old English hefiġnes; equivalent to (and influenced by) hevy +‎ -nesse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛːviːnɛs/, /ˈhɛːvinɛs/, /ˈhɛv-/

Noun

hevynesse (uncountable)

1. The quality of having great weight; heaviness.
2. Fulness or sufficiency in quantity; abundance.
3. Great force or intensity.
4. Great importance or meaning.
5. The quality of being difficult to bear or accomplish; burdensomeness.
6. Slowness or sluggishness of movement.
7. A lack of vitality due to factors such as fatigue, age, disease or conscience.
8. (religion) The vice of sloth or idleness.
9. Woe, sorrow, grief; anxiety, unease.
   • c. 1368, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess, as recorded c. 1440–1450 in Bodleian Library MS. Fairfax 16, folio 130r:

     Defaulte of slepe and hevynesse / Hath [slayne] my spirite of quyknesse / That I haue loste al lustyhede

     Lack of sleep and sorrow / Have killed the liveliness in my spirit / So that I have lost all enjoyment of life.

10. Vexation, annoyance; hostility.
11. (of topic) Gravity, seriousness
12. A misfortune or grievance.
13. (of scent) Offensiveness, oppressiveness.
14. (of sound) Depth, lowness of pitch.
15. (meteorology) Inclemency.

Synonyms

• hevy
• (sorrow): hevyte
• hevihed
• hevischipe

Derived terms

• at hevynesse

Descendants

• English: heaviness

References

• “hevines(se, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 7 August 2018.