Sweetness

How to spell sweetness

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sweetness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sweetness mean?

1. nounThe quality of being sweet, whether in taste, sound, smell, or temperament.

Sweetness in a sentence

• The sweetness of the dessert came entirely from ripe fruit.

• Reviewers praised the sweetness of her singing voice.

Where does sweetness come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is thoroughly native English, built from the Old English adjective swete, meaning 'pleasing to the senses, agreeable to the taste', combined with the productive suffix -ness, which Old English used to turn adjectives into abstract nouns naming a state or quality. The root swete descends from a common Germanic ancestor that also gave German suss and Dutch zoet, and ultimately reaches back to a prehistoric root meaning 'sweet' or 'pleasant' that linguists also connect to Latin suavis 'agreeable' and the Greek word for sweet. The earliest meaning centred on taste, but from very early on English speakers extended it to sound (a sweet voice), smell, temperament, and affection. The -ness ending is one of the oldest and most reliable English noun-makers, seen in 'darkness', 'kindness', and 'happiness'. Because both pieces are plain and regular, the only mild trap in spelling is remembering the double e of 'sweet' and the double s where the -ness suffix joins.

How the word is built

• sweet (pleasant taste)
• -ness (noun-forming suffix denoting a state or quality)