Also 1 wétnis, 5–6 wetenes, 6 -ness(e, 7 weatness; 4–6 wette-, wetnes(se. [f. WET a. + -NESS.] The fact or condition of being wet; also concr., moisture, wet.
α. c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Luke viii. 6. Oðer feall ofer stan and … fordruʓade forðon ne hæbde wetnise.
c. 1430. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 546. The king … of that wetenes [sc. tears] was affraied That by his arme and his shuldres ran.
1530. Palsgr., 288/1. Wetenesse, moilleure, moisteure.
1546. Yorks. Chantry Surv. (Surtees), 285. The weteness of the grounde and grete inundations of waters.
1573. Kent & Surrey Sewers Comm. (1909), 163. These men … were extreamly hindred thorowe the extreamenes of the wetenesse of the wether.
1664. J. Carstaires, Lett. (1846), 149. See that it be kept verie dry, the least weatness will much prejudice me.
β. c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace, 10352. Schal he neuere take scathe, Ne haue wetynge [Petyt MS. haf wettenes] ne waþe.
c. 1400. trans. Higden (Rolls), VII. 149. A lanterne … þat myȝt nouȝt be quenched nouþer wiþ wynde ne wiþ none moysture ne wetnes.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 99. What worser for barlie than wetnes and cold?
1577. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. 141 b. The wettenesse hereof doth not onely hurt … their feete, but also spoyleth their coates.
1645–50. Boate, Ireland’s Nat. Hist., xxi. § 3 (1652), 165. Which inconstancy and wetness of the weather is … troublesome to men.
1699. Meager, New Art Garden., 42. If the Vine stands against damp Walls, the wetness perishes the Clusters that touch it.
1765. A. Dickson, Treat. Agric. (ed. 2), 136. The wetness of land from its situation may be prevented.
1794. Vancouver, Agric. Cambridge, 57. This meadow land … in that state of wetness.
1846. J. Baxter’s Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), I. 229. The suffocating wetness and cold of the furrows.
1871. B. Stewart, Heat, § 152. The sensation of dryness or wetness does not depend upon the absolute amount of aqueous vapour present in one cubic foot of air.
b. A wet spot or patch of ground.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. Pl. XLVI. The plan of draining wetnesses on the tops of hills and banks.
