Where does “badness” come from?

Badness comes from Middle English badnesse, from Old English badnes, derived from Proto-Germanic bidjaną and Proto-Indo-European gʷʰedʰ-.

badness (English): The quality or degree of being bad

Definitions

  1. The quality or degree of being bad

Ancestry of “badness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-nessAppended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the...
2Middle English-nesseAffixed to adjectives to form abstract nouns...
3Old English-nesUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
4Proto-West Germanic-nassīUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
5Proto-Germanic-inassuz-ness
6Proto-West Germanic-ness, -th
7Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
8Proto-Indo-European-íh₂
9Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂