compassionateness en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English compassionate 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 compassionateness From compassionate + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The state or quality of being compassionate.
[…] not as in any kind of harshness in my spirit towards you do I write, but in love and compassionateness to you and these Kingdoms.
1661, Edward Burrough, A Just and Righteous Plea Presented unto the King of England, and His Council, London: Robert Wilson:[…] but Gwendolen, instead of any such symptoms as pallor and silence, had only deepened the compassionateness of her brow and eyes,
1876, George Eliot, chapter 7, in Daniel Deronda, volume 1, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 133: