inclemency

noun — 2 senses

inclemency

noun

Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin inclēmentia. By surface analysis, inclemen(t) + -cy.

1

Usually The quality of being inclement; lack of clemency.

2

Usually Something that is inclement.

  • with neither house nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather1729, Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal:
  • They are built of rough sticks, covered with bulrushes or grass, in such a manner as to completely protect the inhabitants from all the inclemencies of the weather.1849, Edwin Bryant, What I Saw in California:
2 more examples
  • There had been rain, squalls mingled with snow, hailstorms, gusts of wind, but these inclemencies did not last.1874, Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island:
  • The cry of the suffering and dying rings in our ears, as they are dragged from their beds, to be exposed to the inclemencies of the ice-covered sea in an open boat.1922, Charles Sylvester, Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.