officiousness en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English officious 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 officiousness From officious + -ness.
Meanings
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(countable, uncountable) The quality of being officious.
emulatory officiousness
Mrs Palmer, and her furbelowed daughters-in-law, who will probably carry enough of the scarlet fever about them, to remind you unpleasantly of the officiousness which preserved the lives of three daughters, when two might have been parted with advantageously enough.
1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 224–225:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| officiousnesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |