highness, n.
(ˈhaɪnɪs)
Forms: see high a.
[OE. héanes, -nis; later héahnes, f. héah high: see -ness. OS. and OHG. hôhnessa.]
1. The quality or condition of being high; loftiness, tallness, altitude. Now rare in lit. sense, the usual word being height.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. li. 397 Sio heanes ðonne ðara munta. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 309/45 We ne maᵹon hiᵹ næfre ᵹeseon for þære fyrlenan heahnysse. a 1225 Ancr. R. 372 Magdalene, þet speleð tures heinesse. c 1340 Cursor M. 11672 (Trin.) Þe heȝenes of þis tre. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xiii. (1495) 119 That it passe not dewe maner in lengthe, brede and hyghnesse. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxiii. 139 A mount of great highnesse and sharpnesse. 1652 F. Kirkman Clerio & Lozia 108 Pattins, which render our highness and stature both alike. 1859 H. T. Ellis Hong Kong to Manilla 124 They had all his highness of bone and lowness of flesh. |
† b. concr. Something that is high; a high place, region, or part; a height; top, summit. Obs.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxlviii. 1 Herᵹað dryhten of heofenum herᵹað hine in heanissum. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iv. 5 And asette hine ofer þæs temples heahnesse. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xciv. 4 Þe heghnessis of hilles ere his. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 190 Of whose sede, the hyenesse of goddes mounte flowreth with fayre blossomes. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. ii. (W. de W. 1495) 241 a/1 In the hyghenesse of heuen he had seen a douue. |
2. Loftiness of rank, position, or character; high rank, condition, or quality; dignity, majesty.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 97 Ðisses deiȝes hehnesse is to heriane. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 428 God hym ȝef þre þynges, as rychesse, And wysdom, & maystrye, & þys was gret heynesse. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 42 Þus siche false presumpcioun of heynes of state. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 2092 My lord of gret hynesse. 1553 Gau Richt Vay 49 He is set in greit power and henes. 1646 T. Whitaker Uzziah 20 Uzziah..doted upon his highnesse. Mod. The highness of his character atones for the lowness of his rank. |
b. With possessive (e.g. the King's Highness; His, Her, Your Highness), as a title of dignity or honour given to princes. [Cf. grace, ]
‘His, Her, Your, (etc.) Highness’ was formerly the title of English kings and queens, varying with ‘Grace’, and later with ‘Majesty’. In the Dedication of the Bible of 1611 to James 1, ‘Highness’ and ‘Majesty’ are used indifferently, as they had been in reference to Queen Elizabeth; but in his reign ‘Majesty’ became the official style. ‘Highness’ was borne by the Lord Protector Cromwell and his wife. In present usage, ‘all sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts of the Sovereign are regarded as of the {oqq}Blood Royal{cqq}, and designated {oqq}Royal Highness{cqq}, which is bestowed also upon grandchildren, if they are the offspring of sons; but nephews, nieces, and cousins, in common with the children of daughters, are addressed as {oqq}Highness{cqq} only’ (Whitaker, Titled Persons 1898). ‘Highness’ is also given to the chief Indian Feudatory Princes. ‘Imperial’ and ‘Royal Highness’ are applied to members of the Imperial and Royal families of other countries, ‘Royal Highness’ also to reigning Grand Dukes, ‘Highness’ and ‘Serene Highness’ to certain other princes (chiefly German); see serene.
| [1173 Foliot in Mat. Hist. Becket (Rolls) VII. 555 Vestræ, domine, celsitudini scribere tardavi.] 1402 Prince of Wales Let. to Hen. IV (Nat. MSS. I. No. 36) More can I not write to yowr hynesse at this tyme. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vi. (1885) 118 His creauncers shul..defame his highnes off mysgouernance. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. (Percy Soc.) 2 Your noble grace and excellent highnes For to accepte I beseche right humbly Thys lytle boke. 1529 Wolsey in Four C. Eng. Lett. 11 This Kyndnes exibite from the Kyng's hyghnes. 1571 Act 13 Eliz. c. 29 §1 Within the Queenes Highnes Domynions. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i iii. 38 The Queene (Madam) Desires your Highnesse Company. 1611 Bible Ded. to Jas. I ¶6 The Lord of Heauen and earth blesse your Maiestie with many and happy dayes, that, as his Heauenly hand hath enriched your Highnesse with many singular, and extraordinary Graces; so [etc.]. 1653 Weekly Intellig. 14–21 Mar. in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 367 The Privy Lodgings for his Highness the Lord Protector in Whitehall are now in readiness. 1714 Swift Pres. St. Aff. Wks. 1765 III. 296 His electoral highness should declare himself entirely satisfied. 1833 H. Martineau Three Ages i. 9 The King's Highness was not called upon to content himself with the homely fare of a farmhouse. 1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 19 Her royal highness merely awaited an opportunity of getting rid of him. 1854 Thackeray Rose & Ring vii, The first lord-in-waiting, entered and said, ‘Royal Highnesses! Their Majesties expect you in the Pink Throne-room’. |
† 3. Haughtiness, pride; overbearingness. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 143 Heinesse of oregel þe hie hadde. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxi. 21 Fra þe heghnes of iwes & all proud men. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 542 Wiþ proude wordes..Boþe wiþ ‘þou leyest, and þou lext’ in heynesse of sowle. 1553 Gau Richt Vay 95 Aganis al hienes and al oder sinnis. 1658 Tradit. Mem. K. James 131 [He] did by the highness of his hand bring it to the Counsell Table. |
4. Greatness of degree, amount, force, etc.; high degree.
| 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 322 Through the highnesse of the wind, and strength of the stream. 1884 Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/1 Responsible for the highness of the rates. |
Hence (nonce-wds.) highness v. trans., to address with the title ‘Highness’; ˈhighnesshood, -ship (rare), the rank or personality of one who has the title of Highness.
| 1658 Cokaine Trappolin iii. i. Dram. Wks. (1874) 154 Hora. I will obey your Highness. Tra. Highness me no more! 1814 Gonzanga ii. ii, My son wasn't grand enough for your Royal Highness-ship! 1818 J. W. Croker Jrnl. 9 Dec. in C. Papers (1884) I. iv. 125 They don't quite Highness her [Mrs. Fitzherbert] in her domestic circle, but they Madam her prodigiously. 1844 Blackw. Mag. LV. 199 A king has descended from his throne, and a prince from royal highnesshood, to reward the virtues of the fair partners to whom they are unable to impart the rights of the blood-royal. |