adhesivenessn.
/ədˈhiːsᵻvnᵻs/, /ədˈhiːzᵻvnᵻs/, /adˈhiːsᵻvnᵻs/, /adˈhiːzᵻvnᵻs/, U.S. /ædˈhizᵻvnᵻs/, /ədˈhizᵻvnᵻs/, /ædˈhisᵻvnᵻs/, /ədˈhisᵻvnᵻs/ 1. The quality of being adhesive (literal and figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > [noun] > clinging to something > quality of
adhesiveness1663
clingingness1869
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > [noun] > adhesion > adhesive quality
stickiness1689
adhesiveness1721
stick1853
tack1876
tackiness1883
clinginess1899
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus ix. 164 The reason they give of this their adhesiveness is, because the premises do manifestly tend to the dishonour of the Crown.
1721 W. Gibson Farriers Dispensatory iii. vii. 191/2 Adding as much Syrup of Buckthorn as is necessary to take off somewhat of the Tenacity and Adhesiveness of the Turpentine.
1775 J. Anderson Ess. Agric. i. 57 Kept always soft by the natural moisture, without being drowned or rendered poachy by the adhesiveness of the soil.
1839 Lady Lytton Cheveley (ed. 2) II. ix. 283 Adamantine adhesiveness to a particular principle.
1868 Morning Star 6 Mar. The adhesiveness and tenacity of this cement are truly extraordinary.
1923 W. R. Cooper W. G. McMillan's Treat. Electrometall. (ed. 4) vi. 116 Quicking is..often resorted to in order to increase the adhesiveness of deposited metals on objects which would have no action on the bath.
1966 P. G. Wodehouse Plum Pie ix. 241 He clustered round her to such an extent that there was no getting her alone. It was the most impressive case of adhesiveness since Mary had a little lamb.
1994 C. J. Van Oss Interfacial Forces in Aqueous Media iii. xxi. 350 The adhesiveness, or ‘stickiness’ of cells to solid surfaces is inversely proportional to their smoothness.
2. In phrenology: the faculty of forming and maintaining attachments to individuals. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > faculty psychology > psychological study of the skull > [noun] > faculty of forming attachments
adhesiveness1815
1815 J. G. Spurzheim Physiognom. Syst. Pref. 9 Attachment indicates only the effect of this faculty, and I require a name to express the faculty of producing such effect..and it seems to me that the sound attachiveness would be infinitely more disagreeable than adhesiveness.
1865 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 514/2 Generally speaking, Adhesiveness is strongest and its organ largest in woman.
1911 The Word Nov. 102 In this posterior lobe are the so called organs of philoprogenitiveness, adhesiveness..and other propensities.
1989 P. Marchand Marshall McLuhan 8 A phrenologist..proclaimed that he was an outstanding boy, with great intelligence and a sizable organ of Adhesiveness, that is, capacity for loyalty and friendship.
3. Psychology. The tendency to association of ideas understood as forming the basis of memory; (also) the capacity to retain information or experience. rare (disused) in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of ideas > association of ideas > [noun] > as basis of memory
adhesiveness1864
1864 Jrnl. Anthropol. Soc. 2 p. xlvi Adhesiveness..is, perhaps, nearly the same thing as memory.
1868 A. Bain Mental & Moral Sci. 88 Natural adhesiveness usually shows itself in special departments—aptitude for languages, for science, for music, etc.
1933 B. Gadelius Human Mentality xiii. 347 There is a touch of psychic ‘adhesiveness’, which, in contrast with the manic flight of ideas and agitation, gives to every idea or inducement to motion a tendency to hang on and obstinately return.
2001 A. Collins in G. C. Bunn et al. Psychol. in Brit. vii. 153 Ward wrote of a constitutional allocation of ‘adhesiveness’ which was not susceptible to change by training (Ward, 1926).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1663