slickness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English slick

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English slickness

From slick + -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈslɪknɪs/
• Rhymes: -ɪknɪs

Noun

slickness (plural slicknesses)

1. The property of being slick.
   • 1959 June, O. S. Nock, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 408:

     The train was well filled, with quite an amount of intermediate business; but station staff and passengers alike seemed ready enough to "look lively", and the result was a general "slickness" in working that augers^[sic] well for the future.