Wordwyrt

toughness

/ˈtʌfnəs/TUHF-nuhs
/ˈtʌfnəs/TUHF-nuhs

Meaningbeing tough

Common meaning: strength to endure

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishtoh‘tough’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishtoughsource
  3. Englishtough‘hard to break’
  4. Englishformed in English from toughtoughness‘strength to endure’ · 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 tough + -ness.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), TOUGH, p.651 · scan

Source words

  • toh Old English · source word “tough”

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