Dictionary

dampness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English damp 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 dampness From damp + -ness.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Moderate humidity; moisture; moistness; the state or quality of being damp.
   • With 3,600 h.p. underfoot, acceleration was reasonably brisk, but the flickering wheel-slip indicator light showed the prudence of not putting full power through the traction motors while there were traces of early-morning dampness on the rails. 1960 August, R. K. Evans, “Railway Modernisation in Spain”, in Trains Illustrated, page 494:
   • They hadn't reckoned with the attendant personality disorders, which the coldness, the darkness, the dampness, the crampedness and the loneliness were doing nothing to decrease. 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 136:
2. (uncountable, usually) The degree to which something is damp or moist.
   • The dampness in the writing paper caused the ink to spread and smudge.

Forms

Translations (32)

sv fukt (moderate humidity) · lv valgums (moderate humidity) · mr आर्द्रता (degree to which something is damp) · lv valganums (moderate humidity) · mr दमटपणा (moderate humidity) · fa زغار (moderate humidity) · mr दमटपणा (degree to which something is damp) · mr आर्द्रता (moderate humidity) · fr moiteur (moderate humidity) · lv mitrums (moderate humidity) · nl vochtigheid (degree to which something is damp) · ru вла́жность (degree to which something is damp) · hi आर्द्रता (degree to which something is damp) · mr ओलावा (moderate humidity) · sv fuktighetsgrad (degree to which something is damp) · ckb نم (moderate humidity) · ru сы́рость (moderate humidity) · ro umezeală (moderate humidity) · hi नमी (moderate humidity) · sv fuktighet (degree to which something is damp) · ru вла́жность (moderate humidity) · lv miklums (moderate humidity) · mr ओलावा (degree to which something is damp) · gl humidade (moderate humidity) · hi आर्द्रता (moderate humidity) · fi kosteus (degree to which something is damp) · nl vochtigheid (moderate humidity) · sv fuktighet (moderate humidity) · gl lentura (moderate humidity) · fi kosteus (moderate humidity) · nl vochtigheidsgraad (degree to which something is damp) · ckb شێ (moderate humidity)