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readiness

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From ready +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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readiness (usually uncountable, plural readinesses)

  1. The state or degree of being ready; preparedness.
    readiness for civil emergencies
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.
    • 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 99:
      Euston is so traditionally a part of the London scene that many will lament the passing of the old station when rebuilding is complete in readiness for the new electric service, which will probably be by multiple-units between Euston and Wolverhampton.
    • 1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 26:
      The very emphasis on reading readiness and on the methods employed to teach children the rudiments of reading has meant that the other, the higher, levels of reading have tended to be slighted.
    • 2025 February 26, Emma Sanders, “'A proper English performance' against Spain”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      England had won just two of their previous six matches prior to facing Spain and manager Sarina Wiegman had been questioned about their readiness to defend their European title in Switzerland this summer.
    • 2025 November 12, “News in Brief: Latest Chiltern makeover”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 13:
      Meanwhile, 68018 has been debranded and lost its DRS colours, in readiness for its transfer to Chiltern as a standby rescue locomotive.
    • 2026 February 5, Ben Blanchard, “Taiwan risks becoming numb to China drills, but threat is urgent, defence minister says”, in Thomas Derpinghaus, editor, Reuters‎[2], archived from the original on 06 February 2026:
      Taiwanese people are at risk of becoming "numb" to China's daily military and other pressure tactics to wear down the island, but the threat is real and greater readiness is needed, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:readiness.
  2. Willingness.
    his readiness to help
    • 1976 December 18, Tommi Avicolli, “Previn's Bleak Book Has Note of Hope”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 18:
      It was a long, enduring scream — one that would send her back into a time and into a childhood which had been forgotten with the readiness that we forget unpleasant moments in our lives.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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