soundnessn.
/ˈsaʊndnɪs/ 1. figurative.1644 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) To Parl. sig. A2 A certaine big face of pretended learning, mistaken..for the wholsome habit of soundnesse and good constitution.
a. The quality or state of being sound or free from disease; sound or healthy condition; healthiness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [noun] > good health
healOE
healthc1000
strengthOE
soundc1275
hailc1300
halec1330
quartc1330
liege poustie1340
plight1394
soundness1398
sanity?a1475
quartfulness1483
healthfulness?1535
symmetry?1541
flesh1548
good liking?1560
well-being1561
valetude1575
safeness1576
kilter1582
mens sana in corpore sanoc1605
eucrasy1607
sanitude1652
salubrity1654
wellness1654
healthiness1670
vegeteness1678
wholesome1738
haleness1815
able-bodiedness1857
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) vi. vi Puella is a name of age, of soundenes without wem, and also of honestee.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xli. 13) Soundnesse may be referred too the body as to the mynd in this wyse.
a1610 J. Healey tr. Cebes' Table in tr. Epictetus Manuall (1616) 134 The Physician..corroborates the vitals; and finally confirmeth the body in perfect soundnesse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. ii. 24 I would I had that corporall soundnesse now. View more context for this quotation
1701 G. Stanhope tr. St. Augustine Pious Breathings 167 There shall be in us, all imaginable Soundness and Vigor, without any sort of disease or decay.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. ii. 322 Though a man would wish in the first place to enjoy vigour of limbs and soundness of constitution.
1830 R. Knox tr. P. A. Béclard Elements Gen. Anat. 372 These tissues resemble the tissues of the human body in a state of soundness.
1866 J. G. Murphy Crit. Comm. Exodus xix. 9 The hand changed from soundness to leprosy and again to soundness.
b. Of the mind, etc.: (see sound adj. 2b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > [noun]
healthc1000
in witc1000
i-mindOE
mindc1380
reasonc1405
wit-state?c1450
common sense1536
sense1536
senses1540
soundness1548
sanitya1616
wisdoma1616
mental health?1650
saneness1727
mens sana1853
balance1856
lucidity1874
clear-headedness1882
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Sanitas, helth,..soundenesse of memorie.
1602 J. Davies Mirum in Modum sig. E3v The Soule cannot her soundnesse more bewray, Then when she doth Temptations strong resist.
1639 J. Sedgwick (title) The Bearing and Burden of the Spirit, wherein the Sicknesse and Soundnesse of the Mans Spirit is opened.
1678 (title) The Temperate Man or the Right Way of Preserving Life and Health, together with Soundness of the Senses, Judgment, and Memory unto extream Old Age.
1805 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. V. App. 519 Conclusive evidence of the capacity of such vouchee, as to the soundness of his mind.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 36 The minds of the wicked..lose their soundness as it were without knowing it.
c. Firmness, solidity; freedom from weakness, defect, or damage; goodness of condition or repair. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > state of being undecayed > [noun]
integrityc1450
incorruption1526
soundness1548
undecayedness1650
imputrescence1658
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [noun] > goodness of condition
soundness1548
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Soliditas,..soundenesse.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Firmitas The hardenes or soundeness of the matter.
1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim xxxiii. 414 He considers not that a crazy state of things, cannot be so soon amended and restored to entire soundness.
1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. 1 John ii. 5–6 It is they that keep his Word, in whom the Love of God doth shew its soundness and perfection.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xviii. 473 That rigidity which was so dangerous to the apparatus and fatal to its soundness.
1859 Act 22 & 23 Vict. c. 66 §13 The [gas] Meter shall be tested for Soundness or Leakage only.
1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost xii. 332 If you..saw before you a bridge the soundness of which was doubtful.
2. Orthodoxy in respect of religious belief, political views, or other opinions.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > orthodoxy > [noun]
the faithc1384
truthc1384
soundness1583
orthodoxy1630
orthodoxness1644
orthodoxism1645
orthodoxalness1654
orthodoxality1660
symmetricalness1684
the mind > mental capacity > belief > school of thought > [noun] > adherence to accepted beliefs
soundness1583
orthodoxy1630
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. M7 Persons..whose soundnesse in religion..they are not ignorant of.
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes iii. §30. 236 Cause is given for their prayers to be suspected in regard of the soundnesse of them.
1682 E. Pearse Conformist's 2nd Plea for Nonconformists 2 The Worthiness of their Persons,..Soundness of their Faith, Exemplary Morals.
1687 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 542 The Church of England, whose doctrine for Catholique & soundnesse he preferr'd to all the Communit<i>es..of Christians in the whole-world.
1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 266 Often it is not enough to ascertain the soundness of the candidate.
3. The quality or fact of being in harmony with solid or well-established principles or facts:
a. Of judgement, reasoning, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > good or sound judgement > quality of
sobriety1548
soundnessa1600
solidity1727
a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie in Wks. (1666) 250 It may stand then very well with strength and soundness of reason, even thus to answer.
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes v. §6. 416 Soundnesse of judgement, Sharpenesse of wit, Quicknesse of conceit.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. v. iv. 55 The soundness of her judgment had hitherto guarded her both from error and blame.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 552 They have a soundness of understanding equal to the task.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian ix, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 241 The soundness of thinking which she had displayed in conversation.
1885 Manch. Examiner 18 Feb. 3/2 In critical soundness and penetration, he is infinitely superior to Johnson.
b. Of views, acts, principles, etc.
ΚΠ
1739 D. Waterland Sacram. Part Eucharist 18 I will not answer for the Acuteness, much less for the Soundness of his Distinction.
1832 H. Martineau Ella of Garveloch vii. 81 I always doubt the soundness of a plea which is urged in such a hurry.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 275 The soundness of the principle on which the Linnæan nomenclature is founded.
1885 Law Times 79 131/2 The soundness of this decision seems to us beyond doubt.
4. Thoroughness, completeness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [noun] > completeness or thoroughness
thoroughnessa1631
radicalness1843
soundness1853
1853 T. T. Lynch Lett. to Scattered (1872) 357 If he wait long enough, he will be flogged with most efficient soundness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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