† mightsomenessn.
Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymon: English genyhtsumnes.
Etymology: Irregularly < Old English genyhtsumnes, genihtsumnes ( < genyhtsum , genihtsum (see mightsome v.) + -ness suffix), probably after might n.1 or might adj. Compare mightsome v., mighthead n.In the quots. this word renders Latin abundantia , and probably arose by minim confusion < inihtsumnes , the early Middle English reflex of Old English genyhtsumnes , genihtsumnes (see below), which renders abundantia at these points in various Old English psalters and in glossaries. See further discussion s.v. mightsome v., and compare the form inihstumnesse in the following passage, which probably represents a transmission error for *inihtsumnesse:c1225 ( Ælfric Gloss. (Worcester) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 549 Abundantia,..inihstumnesse [OE St. John's Oxf. genihtsumnys].
Obsolete.
rare.
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) xxix. 7 in C. Horstmann (1896) II. 160 (MED) I sothlik saide in mi mightsomnes [L. abundantia], ‘I ne sal be stired in ai þat es.’
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) lxxvii. 29 in C. Horstmann (1896) II. 210 (MED) He gafe þam metes in mightsomnes.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online December 2020).