braininess en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English brainy 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 braininess From brainy + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The characteristic of being brainy.
[…] any excess of intellect—'braininess' was her word for it—tended to belong, in her eyes, to the 'beastly'.
1934, George Orwell, chapter 7, in Burmese Days: