English
bienness
Bienness comes from French bien ‘good, well’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *dwenos.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Archaic Latin, derivedc. 700–75 BCE*duenēdreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbene‘well’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bien‘well’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘well’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘good, well’
- Englishearliest quotation 1874bienness
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Archaic Latin, derivedc. 700–75 BCE*duenēdreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbene‘well’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bien‘well’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘well’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘good, well’
- Englishearliest quotation 1874bienness
Earliest quotation: 1874, William Black, A Princess of Thule: “Here were no haggard savages, unkempt and scantily clad,…”
Formed from -ness
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
down, town, tool, dynamic, teen, dynasty, tow, dun, dynamo, dynastic, tine, taw, beaucoup, beauteous, 90 more
through Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’
beautiful, beauty, rebellion, boo, beau, rebellious, bona, bello, rebelling, bauble, 35 more
through Archaic Latin duenos
bonus, rebel, optimal, optimism, boon, bonnie, revel, bonny, bellicose, bonbon, 35 more
through Archaic Latin *duenēd
through Latin bene ‘well’
Today it means
noun The quality of being good, wholesome, comfortable, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *dwenos / bienness