mysteriousnessn.
/mᵻˈstɪərɪəsnəs/, U.S. /məˈstɪriəsnəs/ 1. † b. Christian Church. The Eucharist, regarded as a religious mystery. Cf. mystery n.1 3. Obsolete.
a. Mysterious quality, obscureness; the fact of being shrouded in mystery or secrecy. Also as a count noun: a mysterious thing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] > mysterious state or quality
mysticalness1608
mysterya1616
abstruseness1628
mysteriousness1633
abstrusity1649
mysticity1761
mysticality1834
sphinxineness1845
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > mysticism > [noun] > condition
mysticalness1608
mysteriousness1633
mysticity1761
mysticality1834
mysticnessa1835
1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 23 Yet their bitternesse Windes up my grief to a mysteriousnesse.
1640 T. Jordan in N. Richards Trag. of Messallina sig. A8 For this thy Play (deare Friend) I must confesse Thy Plot's contrived with such misteriousnesse As if Fate turn'd the Scene.
1649 F. Roberts Clavis Bibliorum (ed. 2) 381 The mysteriousnesse and difficulty of the Book.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 212 Profound veneration, which Obscurity and Mysteriousness conciliates to all Truths.
1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. I. i. ii. 65 The Mysteriousness of the whole Proceeding arises only from hence, That our finite Minds cannot comprehend the Reasons and Limits of the divine Justice.
1785 R. Cumberland Nat. Son i. 5 Let not distance of condition, nor the inscrutable mysteriousness of your birth, put you out of heart.
1834 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. I. xvi. 242 Such being the necessary mysteriousness of Scripture doctrine.
1883 F. M. Peard Contradictions I. 2 Blue and shadowy depths suggested a soft mysteriousness.
1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xxxiv. 354 The very mysteriousness of such a cure made her the more confident of its efficacy.
1987 V. Glendinning Rebecca West ii. vi. 65 In later life he was bitter..about the damaging mysteriousness of his parentage.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > communion > [noun]
massOE
servicelOE
sacrament?c1225
table1340
commoningc1384
the Lord's Supperc1384
Eucharista1400
oblation?a1425
communion1440
sacrifice?1504
Lord's Table1533
Maundy1533
the Supper?1548
unbloody sacrifice1548
mystery1549
communication1550
banquet1563
liturgy1564
table service1593
synaxis1625
mysteriousness1650
second service1655
nagmaal1833
ordinance1854
table prayer1858
1650 Bp. J. Taylor Rule & Exercises Holy Living iv. §10. 347 The celebration of the holy Sacrament is the great mysteriousnesse of the Christian religion.
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Worthy Communicant i. §5. 95 Those great appelatives with which..the most eminent Saints of God use to..invest the great mysteriousness.
2. The tendency in a person to make mysteries of things; a predisposition to be secretive, obscure, or enigmatic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] > mysterious state or quality > making mysterious > capacity for
mystery1692
mysteriousnessa1784
mysterizingness1817
a1784 S. Johnson in J. W. Croker Johnsoniana (1836) 407 Nothing ends more fatally than mysteriousness in trifles.
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. III. 109 Elizabeth all her life had persevered in an obstinate mysteriousness respecting the succession.
1886 Manch. Examiner 13 Jan. 5/1 There is an air of constitutional mysteriousness about them.
1911 Catholic Encycl. XI. 605/1 St. Augustine, while charging Pelagius with mysteriousness, mendacity, and shrewdness, [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1633