The quality or state of being due; the condition of something owed or expected.
Formed from 'due' (from Old French 'deu,' past participle of 'devoir' meaning 'to owe') plus the suffix '-ness,' which creates abstract nouns. The meaning developed from the idea of something being owed or rightfully expected.
This is one of those words that's technically correct but so awkward that almost nobody uses it—we say 'what's owed' or 'the expectation' instead. It's like linguistic toast: grammatically valid but nobody actually wants to eat it.
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