ness

From Middle English nesse (in placenames), from Old English ness, næss, from Proto-Germanic *nasją (“promontory; ness”); cognate with Middle Low German nes, Icelandic nes, Swedish näs, Danish næs. Related to nose.

• enPR: nĕs, IPA^(key): /nɛs/

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• Rhymes: -ɛs

ness (plural nesses)

1. (geography) A promontory; a cape or headland. (Frequently used as a suffix in placenames.)
   • 1958: Eric Rücker Eddison, Zimiamvian Trilogy, volume 3: “The Mezentian Gate”, page 177 (Elek Bks.)

     Velvraz Sebarm stands upon the lake, among orange-trees and pomegranates and almonds and peaches of the south, a mile north-west over the water from Zayana town, and two miles by land: an old castle built of honey-coloured marble at the tip of a long sickle-shaped ness that sweeps round southwards, with wild gardens running down in the rocks to the water’s edge, and behind the castle a wood of holm-oaks making a wind-break against the north.

• Nes
• Ness
• naze

• ness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• The Collins English Dictionary, Collins, London & Glasgow 1986

• ESNs, SE SN, SNES, Sens, Sens., sens

Cognate with German Nässe

ness f (plural nessa)

1. rainy weather
2. wetness

• nessa