Dictionary

likeliness en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English liklinesse, lyklinesse; equivalent to likely + -ness.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) The condition or quality of being probable or likely to occur.
2. (uncountable, usually) Likelihood, probability or chance of occurrence; plausibility or believability.
   • To determine the likeliness of an individual in a concept, a membership function is required. 2006, David W. Embley, A. Olivé, Sudha Ram, Conceptual modeling:
   • The proposed HEA is based on the assumption that each specific error has a certain impact on a system/aircraft state whilst the crew's likeliness to commit this error is decreasing with an increasing number of safeguards against it. 2004, Klaus-Martin Goeters, Aviation psychology: practice and research:
3. (uncountable, usually) Suitability; agreeableness.
   • A new competitor may decrease the likeliness of an old hypothesis, but it will usually not change its loveliness. 2004, Peter Lipton, Inference to the best explanation:
4. (uncountable, usually) Likeness; similarity.
   • No surely, Reason is both the Gift and Image of God, and every Degree of its Improvement is a farther Degree of Likeliness to him. 1727, Robert South, Twelve Sermons:

Forms

Relateds

likelihood