chairness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈt͡ʃɛənəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈt͡ʃɛɹnəs/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κατά (katá) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair 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 chairness From chair + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The essence of what it means to be a chair; the qualities that make a chair what it is.
There was, according to him [an artificial monster created by a Swedish scientist], a 'goodness' that made things good, an 'evil principle' that made them bad, [...] and a 'chairness' or 'boxness' that made things chairs and boxes.
1870 December 29, “A New Adam in Sweden”, in Daily Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, page 1:When you look at a chair, you are aware of its shape from a particular point of view, but defenders of this objection insist that you are also aware of its chairness.
2012, Jesse J. Prinz, “Where is Consciousness? The Intermediate Level”, in The Conscious Brain: How Attention Engenders Experience (Philosophy of Mind), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 74:He extended his finger and outlined the shape of the chair. "It's about forms and negative space—she's taken the chairness away from the chair and left it purely object."
2003, Ann Packer, chapter 18, in The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Contemporaries, →ISBN, page 177:I can identify the pattern of wood grain on my chair at Mom and Dad's kitchen table, but I don't try to sketch it in my mind. For me, chairness is nonvisual; it's the feel of a seat connected to four legs and a backrest.
2011, Thad Nodine, chapter 3, in Touch and Go: A Novel, [Lakewood, Colo.]: Unbridled Books, →ISBN, page 39:Similarly when we call triangularity or chairness an idea or notion or concept, we do not mean to deny that these natures are really manifested in particulars; we are only saying that their reality, like that of the particulars, presupposes a thinking subject.
1907, H. A. Prichard, “A Criticism of the Psychologists' Treatment of Knowledge”, in Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy, volume 16, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →OCLC, page 34: