averseness en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English averse 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 averseness From averse + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) The quality of being averse; opposition of mind.
[…] the Fondness or Averseness of the Child to some Servants […] will at any time let one know, whether their Love to the Baby is uniform and the same, when one is absent, as present.
1742, Samuel Richardson, Pamela, London, Volume 4, Letter 56, p. 363:There were tones in it [his fiddling] which bred the immediate conviction that indolence and averseness to systematic application were all that lay between 'Mop' and the career of a second [Niccolò] Paganini.
1893 April, Thomas Hardy, “The Fiddler of the Reels”, in Life’s Little Ironies […], London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], published 1894, →OCLC, page 181:Oh the stubburnnesse of iniquitie, and mans auersenesse from his maker.
1600, George Abbot, An Exposition upon the Prophet Jonah, London, Lecture 4, p. 65:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| aversenesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |