ponderosity
(pɒndəˈrɒsɪtɪ)
[ad. med.L. ponderōsitās (Wyclif c 1381), f. L. ponderōsus heavy, weighty (see prec.) + -ity.]
1. The quality of being ponderous or weighty; heaviness, weightiness, weight.
| c 1450 Lydg. & Burgh Secrees 1798 Whoo slepith wel be natural reson, Tyl wombe avoyde al pondorosite, Excludyng seknesse stant in liberte. 1519 Interl. Four Elements (1530) A vij, The yerth because of his ponderosyte Avoydyth equally the mouyngs great Of all extremytes and sperys that be. 1555 Eden Decades 328 Yow owght to consyder of what ponderositie of weyght they are. 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. (1651) 240 Ponderosity is a naturall inclination to the Center of the World. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Baroscope, The Tube by its Ponderosity presses downwards into the Vessel. 1874 Carpenter Ment. Phys. i. i. §10 (1879) 11 Those most general Properties of Matter, resistance and ponderosity. |
2. fig. Weightiness, importance; profoundness, seriousness (obs.); heaviness, dullness. (Chiefly of literary productions or style.)
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xvi. (Arb.) 185 The most excellent makers of their time, more..respecting the fitnesse and ponderositie of their wordes then the true cadence or simphonie. 1637 Bastwick Litany ii. 2 With all the ponderosity of Arguments and solidest tractats. 1780 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. IV. Advert. 5 If, as refinement generally verges to extreme contrarieties, Kent's ponderosity does not degenerate into filligraine. 1787 Minor 107 Your late rare history has conferred so large a portion of ponderosity on your opinions. 1881 Shairp Asp. Poetry v. 139 He falls into ponderosity and pomposity. |