English
grimness
Grimness comes from Old English grimnes ‘severity, fierceness, cruelty’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150grimnes‘severity, fierceness, cruelty’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grimnesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1899grimness
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150grimnes‘severity, fierceness, cruelty’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grimnesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1899grimness
Earliest quotation: 1899, Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness: “This one was almost featureless, as if still in…”
Formed from grim + -ness
Proto-Germanic *grimmaz ‘grim, grimly, fierce’
Proto-West Germanic *grimm ‘grim, angry’
Old English grimm ‘fierce, savage, terrible, cruel, angry’
Middle English grim
English grim
Every English word from Old English grimnes
Today it means
noun The characteristic or quality of being grim.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English grimnes / grimness