The quality of being like a butcher; rough or crude behavior; brutality or savageness.
From 'butcherly' (adjective meaning crude or savage) plus '-ness', a suffix that turns adjectives into abstract nouns. Both derive from 'butcher' with '-ly' making an adjective first.
By adding '-ness' to '-ly' adjectives, English creates words that name abstract qualities—but most of these deeply layered words are quite rare in modern speech. It's a reminder of how much richer older English vocabulary was.
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