frankness

/ˈfɹæŋknəs/FRANGK-nuhs

Meaningthe state or quality of being a Frank, a free man

Common meaning: the state or quality of being frank

franka Frank, a free manSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 218 · scan
nessnoun ending: the state of being

Journey through time

Late Latinfrancus‘free’source
Old Frenchfranc‘free’source
Englishfrank‘open and honest’
Englishformed in English from frankfrankness‘the state or quality of being frank’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: the state or quality of being a Frank, a free man. It can be inferred from any of: frank.

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 frank + -ness (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Source words

francus Late Latin · source word “a Frank, a free man”

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