cleanness
(ˈkliːnnɪs)
Also 3–5 clannesse.
[OE. clǽnnes: see clean a. and -ness.]
The quality or state of being clean.
1. a. lit. Freedom from dirt or filth, purity, clearness. † cleanness of teeth: scarcity of food.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xiv. (1495) 447 It nedyth clennesse of water. 1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 47 The holsomnes & helthe of that londe & the clennes out of venyme [carentia veneni]. 1538 Starkey England 177 Offycerys to be appoyntyd to have regard of the bewty of the towne and cuntrey, and of the clennes of the same. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Amos iv. 6, Therefore haue I giuen you cleannes of teeth [so 1611; Wyclif, eggyng of teeth; Coverdale, ydle teth] in all your cities. 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 365 One yeare there hath bene hunger; the second there was a dearth, and a third..there is great cleannesse of teeth. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. x. §11 Cleanness of body was ever esteemed to proceed from a due reverence to God, to society, and to ourselves. 1642 Rogers Naaman 37 Destroying our soules with cleannesse of teeth. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 415 Houses..remarkable..for their order and cleanness. |
b. Neatness; purity; elegance; used spec. of literary style.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 29 b, Dalmada is inferiour to you in eloquence and cleanesse of stile. a 1586 Sidney (J.), He shewed no strength in shaking of his staff: but the fine cleanness of bearing it was delightful. 1693 Dryden Juvenal (J.), He minded only the clearness of his satire, and the cleanness of expression. |
2. Moral or ceremonial purity; chastity; innocence; undefiled quality.
| c 890 K. ælfred Bæda iv. ix. (Bosw.), Heo on clænnesse Gode þeowode. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 105 Castitas þat is clenesse on englisc. c 1230 Hali Meid. 11 Meidenhad..ouer alle Þing luueð cleannesse. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1 Clannesse who-so kyndly cowþe comende. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 506 Wel oughte a prest ensample for to give, By his clennesse, how that his scheep schulde lyve. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13041 Ho keppit not hir klennes with a cloise hert. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 108 In clannes and in cristes merk. 1509 Fisher Wks. (1876) 181 Clennes of conscyence. 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. v. ii, Taking a delight in the cleaneness of my conuersation. 1611 Bible Ps. xviii. 20 According to the cleannesse of my hands hath hee recompensed me. 1721 R. Keith tr. T. à Kempis' Solil. Soul iii. 137 A Resting-place for thee..who art the Lover of Cleanness, and the Inhabitant of a good Conscience. |
3. Of aircraft: the state or quality of having ‘clean’ lines (cf. clean a. 13 c).
| 1925 Sci. Amer. Apr. 269/2 What does this limiting speed depend upon? The weight of the airplane and the ‘clean⁓ness’ of its design. 1933 Meccano Mag. Feb. 108/2 The machine has been designed with a very efficiently stream⁓lined shape, and its absolute ‘cleanness’ has enabled it to have a high top speed. 1939 [see clean a. 13 c]. |