holiness
/ˈhoʊlinəs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.46 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Used in connection with His or Your to address the leader of some religious traditions, notably the pope.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "R. Moskowitz charges cisgender readers to be as conscious and deliberate with our religious identities as transgender and gender non-conforming people are with theirs, arguing that holiness is only achieved through continuous and unrelenting struggle and change."
- "“Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier,” the conference says on its website."
- "Your Holiness"
- "Currently he is a firm pillar that is supporting the Tibetan diaspora, holding them all together—but I worry about what will happen to Tibetans when His Holiness leaves his current body."
Etymology
From Middle English holynesse, holinesse, halinesse, from Old English hāliġnes (“holiness, a holy thing, rites”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailagnassī, equivalent to holy + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian hilligens (“holiness”), Old High German heilagnissi, heilīgnissi (“holiness”), whence Middle High German heilignis (“halidom”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhoʊlinəs/
- British English: /ˈhəʊlinəs/