callowness

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English calowʒnes (baldness), equivalent to callow +‎ -ness. Cognate with West Frisian kealens (baldness).

Noun[edit]

callowness (usually uncountable, plural callownesses)

  1. The condition of being callow; immaturity.
    • 1957, Max Lerner, America as a Civilization, page 61:
      It is likely that historians will look back on American life and see it — with its truths and errors, its callownesses and obsessions and insights, its childishness and its power — as one of the memorable civilizations of history.