hardnesse

== English == === Noun === hardnesse (countable and uncountable, plural hardnesses) Obsolete spelling of hardness. 1567, Arthur Golding: Ovid's Metamorphoses Bk. 3 lines 78-81 But yet his hardnesse savde him not against the piercing dart. For hitting right betweene the scales that yeelded in that part Whereas the joynts doe knit the backe, it thirled through the skin, And pierced to his filthy mawe and greedy guts within. == Middle English == === Etymology === From Old English heardnes; equivalent to hard +‎ -nesse. === Noun === hardnesse hardness, the quality of being hard ==== Descendants ==== English: hardness