thickness

noun, verb — 7 senses

thickness

noun

/ˈθɪknəs/

Etymology From Middle English thikkenesse, thiknesse, from Old English þicnes (“thickness, viscosity, density, hardness; obscurity, cloud, darkness; thicket; depth, a thick body, anything thick or heavy”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkwīnassī (“thickness”), equivalent to thick + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian tsjokkens (“thickness”), Old High German dickinessī, dikkinissi, diknissi (“thickness, density”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English crassitude (“thickness”) from Latin crassitūdō (“thickness”).

1

The property of being thick (in dimension).

2

A measure of how thick (in dimension) something is.

  • The thickness of the Earth's crust varies from two to 70 kilometres.
  • Guitar picks come in different thicknesses.
2 more examples
  • The newest form of gold created in a lab is the thickness of two atoms, according to a new study. It’s only 0.47 nanometers thick, which is one million times thinner than a human finger nail.2019 August 6, Ashley Strickland, “Scientists just created the world’s thinnest gold and it’s two atoms thick”, in CNN:
  • Whether made by a small business or a household name like Scotch, washi tape comes in countless colors, patterns and thicknesses and can be used for just as many adhesive-related projects, from decorating envelopes and empty jars to creating section dividers and adhering photos/ephemera in journals.2025 January 6, Daniel Toy, “I’ve been journaling for more than 20 years. Here are my 25 favorite journaling supplies”, in CNN:
3

A layer.

  • We upholstered the seat with three thicknesses of cloth to make it more comfortable to sit on.
4

The quality of being thick (in consistency).

  • Whip the cream until it reaches a good thickness.
5

Informal The property of being thick (slow to understand).

6

Graph theory, Mathematics, Sciences The minimum number of planar subgraphs which a given graph can decompose into.

Synonyms
fatness, depth, layer, stratum, density, viscosity, denseness, slowness, stupidity, thickheadedness
Antonyms
fluidity, liquidity, runniness, thinness, wateriness, mental acuity, mental agility, quick-wittedness, sharpness
Derived terms
dry film thickness, half-value thickness, outerthickness, paper-thickness, thicknesser

thickness

verb

Etymology From Middle English thikkenesse, thiknesse, from Old English þicnes (“thickness, viscosity, density, hardness; obscurity, cloud, darkness; thicket; depth, a thick body, anything thick or heavy”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkwīnassī (“thickness”), equivalent to thick + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian tsjokkens (“thickness”), Old High German dickinessī, dikkinissi, diknissi (“thickness, density”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English crassitude (“thickness”) from Latin crassitūdō (“thickness”).

1

To trim (wood) to a consistent thickness using a thickness planer.

  • Even if the parts are thicknessed by machine, check for and plane out any cup with a bench plane.2003, Garrett Hack, The Handplane Book, page 143:

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