tightness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English tight Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną 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 tightness From tight + -ness.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The quality or degree of being tight.
The preference for tightness during intercourse is so well known in Western culture that U.S. obstetricians even have a term for the extra stitch they often perform when doing episiotomy repairs following childbirth: the "husband's stitch." The husband's stitch is intended to produce a smaller vaginal opening, to counteract the natural stretching of the tissues from sexual activity and childbirth and even to make the opening more constricted than it might have been before.
2001, Ellen Gruenbaum, The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tightnesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (13)
it strettezza (the quality of being tight) · fr étroitesse (the quality of being tight) · et tihe (the quality of being tight) · et tihkjas (the quality of being tight) · et ahtake (the quality of being tight) · id kesempitan (the quality of being tight) · bg сбитост (the quality of being tight) · fi tiukkuus (the quality of being tight) · bg стегнатост (the quality of being tight) · et pingas (the quality of being tight) · et kitsakas (the quality of being tight) · fi ahtaus (the quality of being tight) · tr darlık (the quality of being tight)