Chilliness
/ˈtʃɪl.i.nəs/noun
The quality of being cold in temperature or unfriendly in manner.
Did you know?‘Chill’ comes from Old English *ciele*/*cele*, meaning coldness, and its family reaches back to a Proto-Germanic root for cold, not a magical curse—but it became one of English’s sharpest emotional metaphors for frost and social distance.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kaliz / *kailaz
“cold; freezing”
Old English
OE
ċiele / cele
“coldness, chill”
Middle English
ME
chil / chille
“cold; a chill, shivering cold”
16th Century
English
chill
“to make cold; a cold sensation or atmosphere”
18th Century
English
chilliness
“the quality or state of being chilly”
Modern English
English
chilliness
“the quality of being cold or unfriendly”