rhetoricalnessn.
/rᵻˈtɒrᵻklnəs/, U.S. /rəˈtɔrəkəlnəs/ rare.
The fact or quality of being rhetorical; (formerly) spec. †eloquence (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [noun]
rhetoricc1330
pronunciation?a1439
rhetory?a1500
well-speaking1511
oratorya1522
rhetorism1569
declaiming1577
pronouncec1600
acroama1603
eloquence1623
rhetoricalness1670
hypocritic1776
union1834
Speakership1887
oracy1965
1670 H. Stubbe Legends No Hist. Pref. sig. † If there be any person worthy of my indignation that will justifie the Rhetoricalness of the History of the Royal Society, I will write a fourth about that, shewing that choice of words, and a smooth and numerous period is not compleat Eloquence.
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Rhetoricalness, eloquentness.
1809 J. Whitaker Life of St. Neot ii. 125 St. Neot, adds Cressy with a useful rhetoricalness at this period, ‘by a renewed inspiration of God was called to return to an active life for the spirituall good of others’.
1938 Winnipeg Free Press 23 Feb. 18/6 The rhetoricalness of the pause following a sforzando in the Frank Bridge arrangement of the Londonderry Air.
1988 Poetics Today 9 884 One still feels a good deal of iconoclastic glee at having the rhetoricalness of supposedly rhetoric-free disciplines exposed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1670