What does thatness mean?
Thatness names the quality or identity of a particular thing, person, or state of affairs. It is especially useful when the aim is to express what makes something recognizably itself rather than merely listing its observable features. The word is uncommon and appears chiefly in literary, philosophical, and analytical contexts, where it can give concise expression to an idea that might otherwise require a longer phrase such as “the distinctive character of.” For example, one might praise the thatness of a house, a voice, or an imagined world. Its unusual form also allows it to function as a conceptual contrast with “thisness,” which concerns what is immediately present or directly experienced. Although thatness is firmly a noun and its abstract character makes it sound formal, it remains vivid in carefully chosen sentences. The word is therefore most effective when precision and compression are both desired.
nounThe quality or distinctive character of being a particular thing, person, or state of affairs; the identity or essence of something referred to as “that.”
- The quality, essence, or distinctive character of a particular thing, person, situation, or state of affairs.
"No description quite captures the thatness of the old house."
"The novel is admired not merely for its plot but for the thatness of the world it creates."
"Her lecture considered the thatness of ordinary objects and the meanings people attach to them."
Rare; the singular is usual because the word is normally used for an abstract quality.
"The author treats the separate thatnesses of the two characters as central to the novel."
Thatness gives English a compact name for the identity of a particular thing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does thatness come from?
Thatness was formed in English by combining the demonstrative pronoun “that” with the suffix “-ness,” a productive element that forms a noun naming a quality or state. “That” belongs to a family of English demonstratives, including “this,” “these,” “those,” and “then,” that developed from related Germanic forms traceable to a common Indo-European demonstrative stem. The suffix “-ness” itself comes from Old English “-nes,” which was commonly used to create nouns expressing qualities or states.
How thatness is actually used
Thatness is uncommon and chiefly literary, philosophical, or analytical rather than everyday vocabulary. It is often deliberately abstract and may suggest the distinctive or irreducible character of something. In philosophical writing, it can be contrasted with “thisness.”
Easily confused with thatness
Thatness refers to the distinctive character or identity of a specified thing, whereas thisness refers to the quality of what is immediately present or directly apprehended.