marblenessn.
/ˈmɑːblnəs/, U.S. /ˈmɑrbəlnəs/ rare.
Hardness like that of marble.
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > [noun]
hardnessOE
hardinessa1398
obdurityc1600
marblenessa1631
durity1646
unimpressibility1854
flintiness1871
secondary hardening1915
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1958) IX. 177 My holy sighs..have worn out my Marble Heart, that is, the Marbleness of my heart.
1866 R. Leighton Poems 230 Her marble features bore a sudden gleam, And settled into marbleness again.
1992 Washington Post (Nexis) 5 Apr. c1 Washington in spring is hard not to love... Its marbleness is softened, its pretensions reduced under a blanket of buds and blossoms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1631