† rethenessn.
Obsolete (Scottish in later use).
1. Fierceness, roughness (of the weather or the sea); cruelty, severity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [noun]
rethenesseOE
grimcundleȝcc1175
fellhead1340
ferteec1380
fiercenessc1384
savagenessa1400
grimliness14..
fellnessc1410
bestialitya1413
fierceheadc1440
cruelness?a1475
inhumanity1477
bremeness?1529
fury1534
tigerness1535
bruteness1538
immanity1539
wolvishness?1548
ferity?c1550
brutishness1567
truculency1569
Phalarism1581
ferocity1606
savagerya1616
brutality1633
inhumanness1649
wolfishness1676
boarishness1682
brutism1687
truculence1727
ferociousness1766
bestialism1824
tigerhood1846
Calibanism1859
unhumanness1885
inhumanism1907
Hunnishness1914
society > authority > strictness > [noun] > severity or sternness
rethenesseOE
grimness971
hardnessOE
sternhead1297
sharpnessa1325
reddoura1375
fiercetya1382
sternness1382
fiercenessc1384
sturdinessc1384
fellnessc1410
austeritya1425
raddourc1440
austerenessa1450
severity1530
cruelness1537
cruelty1556
severeness1579
tender mercies1611
piquancya1677
Draconianism1819
astringency1823
Draconism1832
hard-handedness1849
starkness1884
the world > animals > by nature > [noun] > wild animal > fierceness
rethenesseOE
wildshipc1275
wildnessc1440
fury1597
ramageness1607
viciousness1774
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [noun]
rethenesseOE
grimness971
sternhead1297
sharpnessa1325
reddoura1375
sternness1382
fiercenessc1384
sturdinessc1384
duressc1400
fellnessc1410
austeritya1425
harshnessc1480
roughness1530
severity1530
durity1543
ungentleness1548
severeness1579
ruggedness1638
atrocity1641
austereness1646
piquancya1677
Draconianism1819
astringency1823
Draconism1832
starkness1884
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [noun]
rethenesseOE
crueltyc1230
cruelnessa1400
savagenessa1400
cruelc1440
crudelity1483
savagec1487
savagerya1616
reluctationa1625
fellness1678
heartlessness1891
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) v. i. 386 He þa..ðone storm gestilde, to þon ðætte þurh all sio roeðnis [L. saeuitia] ðæs stormes wæs blinnende.
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) xiv. 272 Wið hunda reðnysse & wiðerrædnysse.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 44 Ða ðe styræn sceolon, na to stiðlice swa ðeah..þæt þe mon beo irihtlæht, na mid ræðnesse fordon.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22667 (MED) Þe angels þat in heuen sal be..For þat rethnes [Coll. Phys. reþenes] sal þai be radd.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 24843 (MED) Þe see for rethnes wex al rede.
1568 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 239 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 136 Thir ar na foulis of ref, nor of rethnas [a1525 Asloan richness].
2. Scottish. Eagerness, ardour. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΚΠ
1882 J. Longmuir & D. Donaldson Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (rev. ed.) IV Reithnes, eagerness, ardour. West of S.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.eOE