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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

loveliness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlʌvlinəs/
  • lŭv′lēnəs
  • (UK) audio

Etymology

From Middle English luflynes; equivalent to lovely + -ness.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) The property of being lovely, of attractiveness, beauty, appearing to be lovable.
    • A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness; but still will keep / A bower quiet for us, and a sleep / Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. 1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 3, lines 1–5:
    • Then, seated in her barbaric chair above them all, with myself at her feet, was the veiled white woman, whose loveliness and awesome power seemed to visibly shine about her like a halo, or rather like the glow from some unseen light. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
  2. (countable) The result of being lovely.
  3. (collective, countable, uncountable) A group of ladybirds.
    • A loveliness of ladybugs is enjoying lunch - little aphids that pepper a crop of soybeans. 2018, Natalie Rompella, The World Never Sleeps, Tilbury House, p18
    • Sparks of sunlight caught on a loveliness of ladybirds that had floated into the waiting room through an open door. 2019, Jayne Fresina, A Loveliness of Ladybirds, Twisted-E Publishing LLC, page 71
    • 'A loveliness of ladybirds,' whispers Roisin to her sleeping child, and looks at her husband proudly. He grins back. 'Aye, the plague of last summer. Couldn't pick up a glass of lemonade without finding a hundred ladybirds using it as a bubble-bath.' 2016, David Mark, Dead Pretty, Hachette UK, page 10

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
lovelinesses Number=Plur lexicographic

Translations (14)

lv mīlība (property of being lovely) · pl powab (property of being lovely) · pl urok (property of being lovely) · ta அழகு (property of being lovely) · bg красота (property of being lovely) · fr charme (property of being lovely) · hu kedvesség (property of being lovely) · it amenità (property of being lovely) · lv mīlīgums (property of being lovely) · he חן (property of being lovely) · bg прелест (property of being lovely) · eo beleco (property of being lovely) · fr beauté (property of being lovely) · pdt Scheenheit (property of being lovely)