readinessn.
/ˈrɛdɪnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈrɛdinᵻs/ 1.
a. The condition or fact of being ready or fully prepared; a state of preparedness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [noun] > state of being prepared or ready
graithc1330
readinessc1350
in promptc1425
areadinessa1500
alreadiness1534
apointc1540
furniture1560
expedition1579
prestness1582
preparedness1590
trim1628
addressedness1633
concert pitch1742
engrenage1918
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) ix. 41 (MED) Þin ere herd þe rednes [v.r. redynes] of her hertes.
1443 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1835) V. 226 orig. draft (MED) First, þe said Maistre Adam shal sey unto my said lord how thankfully the Kyng tooke his redynesse.
1548 W. Thomas Ital. Gram. & Dict. Concio, the dressyng, redinesse, or arraie.
1565 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 399 Anent the reddines of his hous at the King and Quenis Majesteis commandiment.
1599 T. Heywood 1st Pt. King Edward IV sig. B2 Shoare We haue my Lord, besides from euery hall There is at least two hundred men in armes. Maior. It cheares my heart to heare this readines.
1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 20 Is not a perfect readinesse in the Verb Sum, as necessarie as in any other of the Verbs? Yes, and more also.
1639 R. Baillie Let. 28 Sept. (1841) I. 200 We heard of nought bot of all England's arming, at least of the readyness of six or seven thousand great horse.
1680 P. Rycaut Hist. Turkish Empire 308 It was concluded that..this readiness of the Turkish Camp would be an early preparation for the designs of the next year, and put the whole Empire into a timely motion.
1721 W. Wishart Five Serm. Lord's Supper iv. 98 Our Readiness for Christ's Coming is exprest here in Four Particulars.
1760 S. Fielding Ophelia I. xiv. 95 I..[ordered] the Servant of the House to tell my Lord's Servants to follow, not seeing in them the Readiness I expected.
1788 J. Madison Federalist Papers xli. 40 How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited, unless we could prohibit, in like manner the preparations and establishments of every hostile nation?
1803 Times 22 Sept. 2/1 All the garrison troops in Picardy, and on the old frontier towns of France..are ordered to be in a state of readiness to march at twenty-four hours' notice.
1847 W. H. Bissell Let. 20 Jan. in Trans. Illinois State Hist. Soc. 1907 (1908) 12 233 For several days, and indeed, until yesterday, we kept ourselves in a constant state of readiness, night and day.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities iii. i. 165 Every town gate..had its band of citizen-patriots, with their national muskets in a most explosive state of readiness.
1937 Times 28 June 20/7 Hay..may char..if a mistake has been made about its readiness for carting and stacking.
1961 Peabody Jrnl. Educ. 38 299 Apparently their teaching experience was not sufficient in quantity or quality to create a ‘state of readiness’ for the theory discussed in these ‘advanced’ classes.
1993 N.Y. Times 28 Nov. i. 19/4 Many of the Soviet Union's 180 army divisions were only partly staffed... Commanders routinely exaggerated the readiness of their units.
b. Psychology. The condition of being able or prepared to learn; spec. the stage of maturity at which a child is able to perform (a specified type of) new learning with ease. Cf. reading readiness n. at reading n.1 Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > [noun] > state of being able to acquire
readiness1926
1926 Ada (Okla.) Evening News 3 May 2/5 Research in ‘reading readiness’ will be discussed for the first time.
1950 Child Devel. 21 49 Educators..have tended to ascribe poor achievement to lack of learning readiness..rather than to the inadequacies of teaching methods.
1980 Behavioural Processes 5 209 Insofar as the cycles do reflect a rhythmically fluctuating internal state, the animal's reactivity to external stimuli and its learning readiness may also vary accordingly.
2003 Learning Disability Q. 26 193/1 The number of letters a kindergarten student can recognize is as successful a predictor as administering additional readiness measures.
2.
a. The quality of being prompt or quick in action, performance, expression, etc.; mental facility. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > [noun] > promptness or alacrity
readinessa1382
alacritya1460
promptitudea1460
thro1488
promptness1506
officiousness1596
earliness1617
alacriousness1657
slippiness1974
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Judith xi. 6 Þe redynesse [L. industria] of þyn inwit is told to alle folkis.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. 2356 (MED) Here lyves thanne were longe..Here hertes ful of besinesse, Wherof the worldes redinesse In bodi bothe and in corage Stant evere upon his avantage.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 143 (MED) Þe þridde dower of þe soule is redynesse for to knowe al þingis þat man wole, hou ofte þat he wole þenke on hem.
c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 124 (MED) God hath youyn the so gret grace in vndyrstondyng and in redynes [L. velocitate] of wytte..þat now be thy self thow mayst take..alle that is wrytyn in thys boke.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 261/2 Redynesse in doyng of a thyng, practique.
1550 R. Sherry Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Piiiv Consider..what a redines is in all childrens wyttes to learne.
1576 A. Fleming tr. J. L. Vives in Panoplie Epist. 401 Beeing too too curious in imitations, [he] marreth the readinesse of his naturall inuention.
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 27 Let your graffe haue three or foure eyes, for readinesse to put forth.
1656 N. Bernard Life J. Usher 22 Their readinesse in the Scripture was marvellous, being able suddainly to have repeated any part of the Bible.
1671 J. Caryll Sir Salomon iv. 63 Don't you admire this miraculous effect of Love, and readiness of wit in so ignorant, so unpractis'd a Creature?
1718 Free-thinker No. 72. 2 The Readiness and Faithfulness of the Memory is likewise very wonderful.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. ii. x. 231 This Fellow..had a Readiness at improving any Accident. View more context for this quotation
1774 A. Gerard Ess. Genius i. iii. 52 He [sc. Ariosto] possesses great readiness and quickness of genius.
1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1844) III. 69 By Cleverness..I mean a comparative readiness in the invention and use of means, for the realizing of objects and ideas.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. ii. 19 His readiness in the French tongue, which he had spoken in his early youth.
1996 New Republic (Nexis) 5 Feb. 29 A boyish readiness in their talents, a quickness of assimilation, a creative eagerness which gives a morning sense of the world grasped afresh.
b. The quickness or ease with which something occurs or is done.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [noun]
lightnessa1382
easiness1398
lightsomeness?a1425
facility1531
readiness1579
easea1616
glibnessa1640
smoothness1893
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > [noun] > quickness or facility with which anything is done
readiness1579
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 401 He first shewed all the Greecians..his army raunging in order of battell, and made them see how easily they remoued their places euery way, as necessity and occasion of fight required,..and that with a maruelous force & redines.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. ix. 12 [He] caused with a marueilous readinesse a forte to be made.
1641 J. Ley Compar. Parl. Protestation with Late Canonicall Oath 36 What did scruple them, they expresly discharged and excluded out of the compasse of their Protestation, and that with such readinesse and expedition, that to many..the doubt was rather prevented then removed.
1662 Bk. Common Prayer Communion That he may with the more readiness and decency break the bread.
1678 R. Wild Exclamation against Popery 1/2 This, Mighty Monarch! at thy Beck or Nod, Shall be effected, as Thou wer't a God; With so much Readiness, thy Royal Tongue Shall hardly Speak, e're we Revenge the Wrong On thy curst Enemies.
1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature I. i. 49 Nothing is more admirable, than the readiness, with which the imagination suggests its ideas.
1753 J. Gill Glory of Church 19 A sett of gospel-ministers..[shall] discharge their office with great readiness and swiftness.
1781 W. Cowper Expostulation 312 Thou canst not read with readiness and ease Providence adverse in events like these?
1805 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 14 247 The readiness with which the finger passed..is not to be conceived but by those who had an opportunity of examining.
1880 W. H. Stone in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 759 All pitchpipes are..inferior in accuracy to tuning-forks; the only advantage..being their louder..tone, and the readiness with which beats are produced.
1934 Mod. Psychol. June 9/1 The readiness with which lascivious images stimulate reaction in the genital organs and an abnormal sexual desire, develops..an intensification of the sexual impulse.
1987 W. J. Burley Wycliffe & Scapegoat (BNC) 107 In some ways, with his delicate colouring and the readiness with which his cheeks flushed with colour, he seemed more feminine than the girl.
1996 T. Arimes HVAC & Chem. Resistance Handbk. xxvi. 22/1 Viscosity expresses the readiness with which a fluid flows when it is acted upon by an external force.
3. Prompt compliance, willingness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [noun] > readiness or promptness
readinessa1400
alacritya1460
forwardness1526
graithnessc1540
alacriousness1657
a1400 Clensyng Mannes Sowle in Eng. Misc. presented to Dr. Furnivall (1901) 270 (MED) The fifte tokne is redynesse to obey lowely to his confessour.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 3088 (MED) He gan to tell his tale with grete redynes.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Bii Consyderynge the redynes of mercy and pyte in our sauyour Ihesu.
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Avv Refuse nothing that must be done, But do it with all redines.
1577 H. Peacham Garden of Eloquence 98 Too great a lenitie and readinesse to forgiue, is the manifest supporting of impunitie.
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes iii. §50. 278 That readinesse and forwardnesse that is in God to succour and support us.
1653 Duchess of Newcastle Poems & Fancies 201 To shew our willingnesse and readinesse to the Kings service, we will give his Majesty a Subsidy of Prayers.
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 266 How glad we were when we heard of your fatherhood's readiness to comply with us. View more context for this quotation
1732 T. Lediard tr. J. Terrasson Life Sethos II. viii. 206 The women..spoke less, but with greater readiness than the men.
1741 in P. Cooke Cent. Puritanism (1855) v. 180 The aforesaid ministers..have manifested their readiness to give what Christian aid they can, by preaching among us.
1767 P. Gibbes Woman of Fashion I. 134 Readiness to afford an Asylum to hopeless and unbefriended Innocence.
1822 W. Scott Let. 13 Sept. (1934) VII. 242 The readiness of all the country to take arms was very singular.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 291 There is no great inclination or readiness on the part of mankind to be made as good..as possible.
1908 W. McDougall Introd. Social Psychol. iv. 97 The measure of the suggestibility of any subject is, then, the readiness with which he thus accepts propositions.
1922 E. von Arnim Enchanted April (1989) 250 This readiness, for instance, not to trouble about money, this freehandedness—it was..what one admired in others.
1990 J. Aiken Jane Fairfax vi. 109 There was a well-bred ease in his manner, and a friendly readiness to converse upon any subject.
4. (An arrangement made for) ease of use; convenience.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > convenience > [noun] > a convenience
ease1393
readiness1523
convenience1609
accommodation1612
conveniency1638
modern convenience1859
amenity1913
mod con1934
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xxiii. f. 42 The whiche shall be a great redynesse many yeres hereafter.
c1591 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) (Camden) 77 Out of wch booke for your Lordship's readines there is hereunto noted certen places offensive.
1610 Bp. J. Hall Common Apol. against Brownists xxxviii. 97 This Ring is laide vpon the seruice-booke: why not? For readinesse, not for holinesse.
a1668 W. Davenant Distresses v. i, in Wks. (1673) 59 Sir be assur'd y'are hither brought for readiness, And more assistance to your cure.
1760 S. Johnson Idler 9 Feb. 41 He now openly declares his Resolution to become a Gentleman;..carries Silver, for Readiness, in his Waistcoat-pocket.
1911 Evening Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 31 Jan. 8/2 For readiness, accessibility and cheapness, the hairpin exceeds all other weapons to woman's hand.
2005 Hotline (Nexis) 16 Sept. (People section) It was not for convenience, or ease, or readiness, but for intimidation.
Phrases
P1. † in (rarely on, into) a readiness = in readiness at Phrases 2. Obsolete.Common in 16–18th centuries, after to be, get, have, put, set, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > in preparation [phrase] > in a state of preparation or readiness
in a readiness1511
in procinct1540
in readiness1541
at a point1611
on the nail1623
1511 Pylgrymage Richarde Guylforde (Pynson) f. v Alwaye in a redynesse to set forth whan they woll.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cclxxix. 419 The erle of Armynahe and the lorde Dalbre,..made their people to be on a redynesse to kepe and defende their countreis.
1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence vi. 175 Caused his shipping to bee made in a readynesse at S. Valeries.
1647 T. May Hist. Parl. iii. i. 14 That the Trayned Bands..should be put into a readinesse.
1723 R. Blackmore Hist. Conspiracy i. 56 Captain Counter..said, they must be sure to be all in a readiness the next Morning.
1743 T. Jones in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 402 The whole Army should..have their baggage loaded..in a readiness to march by break of day.
P2.
in readiness in or into a state of preparedness or alertness; at the ready.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > in preparation [phrase] > in a state of preparation or readiness
in a readiness1511
in procinct1540
in readiness1541
at a point1611
on the nail1623
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 12 §12 The yoman of the chaundrie..shall..haue in rediness seared clothes, sufficient for the surgeon.
1564 E. Grindal Serm. Funeral Prince Ferdinandus sig. Aiv Concerning the vncertaintie of death, which is the second and greatest cause to moue vs to be in redines.
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. (Mar Lodge) (1946) 36 Iber..having ȝong men..in reddines to vse thare vassalage as the tyme requirit.
1639 J. Woodall Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) Pref. sig. C2 Such necessaries as by the ship Barbers are fit to be had in readinesse.
1644 J. Vicars Jehovah-jireh 186 That the trained-bands, in and about London, might be put in readinesse.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 60 She would wait with some Impatience..and any Hour should find her in Readiness.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. II. v. 23 He..issued orders that the army should be in readiness next day to reimbark for Cuba.
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 61 He..went in haste, to get in readiness.
1868 E. Edwards Life Sir W. Ralegh I. xxvi. 654 He sent orders that she [sc. the ship] should continue to lie in readiness for another night or two.
1930 I. M. B. Stuart Theory Mod. Rugby Pract. vi. 111 The wing forwards would be well advised..to..hold themselves in readiness for a quick break-away.
1956 Music Educators Jrnl. 42 39/1 The tryouts were completed on schedule by Sunday evening and everything was in readiness for the first rehearsal the next morning.
1995 W. Weaver tr. U. Eco Island of Day Before 72 The next morning the troops were in readiness on the covered way above the counterscarp and inside the walls.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1350- tonguebiting
- tonguebitten
- tongueblade
- tonguebleed
- tonguebleeder
- tonguebolt
- tonguebone
- tonguebound
- tonguebully
- tonguebutt
- tonguecase
- tonguechain
- tonguecheek
- tonguecoating
- tonguecombat
- tonguecompliment
- tonguecompressor
- tonguecraft
- tonguecurve
- tonguecutting
- tongued
- tongued and grooved
- tonguedebate
- tonguedepressor
- tonguedoughty