deˈsirableness
[f. prec. + -ness.]
1. The quality or fact of being desirable.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 34/1 Discourses upon the thing itself, and the desirableness of it. a 1665 J. Goodwin Filled w. the Spirit (1867) 125 Matters of lighter concernment or less desirableness. 1817 Malthus Popul. III. App. 229 The desirableness of a great and efficient population. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. I. 384 To discuss..the desirableness of fulfilling the engagement into which he had entered. |
† 2. In active sense: Desirousness. Obs.
| 1649 St. Trials, Lieut.-Col. John Lilburne (R.), To declare my desireableness to keep within the bounds of reason, moderation, and discretion. |