Meaning of bienness | Babel Free

Definitions

The quality of being good, wholesome, comfortable, etc.

archaic, uncountable

Examples

“Here were no haggard savages, unkempt and scantily clad, coming forth from their dens in the rocks to stare⟳ wildly at the strangers. On the contrary, there was a prevailing air of comfort and “bienness” about the people and their houses.”

“[Otago's] pace has been, and even without auriferous wealth, would have⟳ continued to be, that of steady progress⟳. Not so deliriously fast, perhaps, but in a sense⟳ which the more thoughtful can appreciate as more satisfactory; that would have⟳ yielded a description of rough bienness to the majority of the people which is always associated with […] the growth of the social and domestic virtues […]”

“There is a felt contrast between the two groups — the snug comfort and “bienness” of the regular inmates of the cottage, and the careworn uncertainty and meagreness which belong⟳ to the life of the others.”

CEFR level