Usefulness

How to spell usefulness

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce usefulness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does usefulness mean?

1. nounThe quality of being practical and able to be used for a beneficial purpose.

Usefulness in a sentence

• The new software proved its usefulness within the first week of the project.

• Managers questioned the usefulness of holding so many weekly meetings.

Where does usefulness come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is a layered English formation built on the noun 'use', which entered Middle English in the 1200s from Old French 'us' and 'user', themselves descended from the Latin verb 'uti', meaning 'to make use of' or 'to employ'. To that core English speakers attached the native suffix '-ful', which simply means 'full of' and turned the noun into the adjective 'useful', recorded from around the late 1500s. The further suffix '-ness', an Old English ending used to mark a state or quality, then converted that adjective into the abstract noun 'usefulness', describing the condition of being useful. The spelling trap lives in the seams between the parts: the single 'l' of 'useful' is kept when '-ness' is added, so writers must resist doubling it, and the silent flow from '-ful' to '-ness' hides no extra letters. Because every piece is transparent, the word is a tidy example of how a Latin root and two homegrown suffixes stack into one settled English noun.

How the word is built

• use (root, from Latin uti: to use)
• -ful (full of, adjective suffix)
• -ness (state or quality, noun suffix)