Wordwyrt

coldness

/ˈkəʊldnəs/KOHLD-nuhs
/ˈkoʊldnəs/KOHLD-nuhs

Meaningthe state of being cold

Common meaning: chill

Other meanings: unfriendliness

Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gal-‘freeze, be cold’source
  2. Old EnglishcealdsourceB&T
  3. Middle Englishcoldsource
  4. Englishcold‘of low temperature’
  5. Englishformed in English from coldcoldness‘chill’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from cold + -ness.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), COLD, p.121 · scan

Source words

  • ceald Old English · source word “cold”

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