The quality or state of being short in length, duration, or supply, or in the context of temper, being quick to anger.
From Old English 'scort' or 'short,' possibly from Proto-Germanic, plus the suffix '-ness' indicating a state or quality. The word has been in use since before 1000 CE.
In old English, 'shortness of breath' was literally called 'short wind,' and doctors eventually realized it wasn't a character flaw but a medical condition—this shift from moral judgment to medical diagnosis happened gradually through the 1700s.
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