Amativeness

/ˈæm.ə.tɪv.nəs/ noun

Definition

The quality, state, or expression of being amative; a tendency toward or capacity for love and affection.

Etymology

From 'amative' plus '-ness' (forming nouns of quality), this creates a psychological or character trait term, following Victorian-era patterns of naming emotional propensities.

Kelly Says

Victorian phrenologists claimed they could find an 'amativeness' bump on the skull—pseudoscience at its finest, but it shows how much Victorians obsessed over quantifying and measuring human emotion.

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