-ness
nəs
-ness scrapes off the quality and bags it
The picture The quality clinging to a person or a thing is scraped gently off and dropped into a bag with a name tag. -ness bags an invisible quality and names it; -ment names the solid thing left after a job.
Where the picture shows up in -ness
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the kind, gathered up
Thank you for your kindness.
θæŋk juː fɔːr jʊr ˈkaɪndnəs
Thank you for being so good to me.
From a held door and a carried bag, only the kindness is gathered into one pouch.
kind + -ness.
-
the ill state, lifted off
He missed work because of illness.
hiː mɪst wɜːrk bɪˈkɔːz ʌv ˈɪlnəs
He couldn't come in because he was sick.
From a hand on a forehead and cold sweat, the ill state is lifted and written in the absence box.
ill + -ness.
-
the dark, poured out
We walked home in the darkness.
wiː wɔːkt hoʊm ɪn ðə ˈdɑːrknəs
We walked home with no light.
From a night with no street lamps, only the dark is gathered and poured over the road.
dark + -ness.
-
the happy, handed over
I wish you happiness in the new job.
aɪ wɪʃ juː ˈhæpinəs ɪn ðə nuː dʒɑːb
I hope the new job treats you well.
The smile is gathered off a face, boxed, and laid in someone else's hands.
happy + -ness.
-
the thick, measured off
Please check the thickness of the board.
pliːz tʃek ðə ˈθɪknəs ʌv ðə bɔːrd
Check how thick the board is.
A ruler is laid against the edge of a board and only its thickness is taken off as a number.
thick + -ness. It also works for qualities you can measure.
All of it in one picture
-ness is one bag that holds a quality. Scrape the kind off kind acts and you get kindness; lift the ill state off an ill body and you get illness. Gather the dark out of a night and you get darkness, the happy off a smiling face and you get happiness, the thick off a board and you get thickness. So with any -ness word, just ask which adjective had its quality scraped off into the bag.