competitiveness

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English competitive Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English competitiveness From competitive + -ness.

1. The state of being competitive.

   “Manhattanville College in Purchase, N. Y., has joined a small but growing [movement] back to the practice of awarding letter grades after a year's experiment with a nonletter system that was seen as a way of reducing the competitiveness and authoritarian quality of [letter] grading.”