different between hardiness vs mettle

English

Etymology

hardy +? -ness

Noun

hardiness (countable and uncountable, plural hardinesses)

1. The quality of being hardy.
   1. The quality of being able to withstand fatigue and hardship; (of a plant) the quality of being resistant to cold or other environmental conditions.
      • 1642, John Milton, An apology against a pamphlet call’d A modest confutation of the animadversions upon the remonstrant against Smectymnuus, London: John Rothwell, p. 13,^[1]

        […] with usefull and generous labours preserving the bodies health, and hardinesse; to render lightsome, cleare, and not lumpish obedience to the minde,

      • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, London: Benjamin Motte, Volume 2, Part 4, Chapter 8, p. 284,^[2]

        But the Houyhnhnms train up their Youth to Strength, Speed, and Hardiness, by exercising them in running Races up and down steep Hills, and over hard and stony Grounds […]

      • 1915, Nellie McClung, In Times Like These, Toronto: McLeod & Allen, Chapter 4,^[3]

        Wild wheat is small and hard, quite capable of looking after itself, but its heads contain only a few small kernels. Cultivated wheat has lost its hardiness and its self-reliance, but its heads are filled with large kernels which feed the nation.

   2. (obsolete) The quality of being bold in the face of risk or authority.

      Synonyms: hardihood, audacity, boldness, firmness, assurance

      • c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act III, Scene 6,^[4]

        Plenty and peace breeds cowards: hardness ever

        Of hardiness is mother.

      • 1702, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion, Oxford, 1732, Volume 1, Book 5, p. 153,^[5]

        […] they who were not yet grown to the hardiness of Avowing the contempt of the King […] would sooner have been checked, and recovered their Loyalty and Obedience.

      • 1856, John Ruskin, Modern Painters, Volume 3, Part 4, Chapter 6, § 6,^[6]

        […] for every sorrow that his heart turned from, he lost a consolation; for every fear which he dared not confront, he lost a portion of his hardiness; the unsceptred sweep of the storm-clouds, the fair freedom of glancing shower and flickering sunbeam, sank into sweet rectitudes and decent formalisms;

2. (obsolete) Hardship; fatigue.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, A View of the State of Ireland, in The Works of Mr. Edmund Spenser, London: Jacob Tonson, 1715, Volume 6, p. 1577,^[7]

     Yet sure they are very valiant, and hardy, for the most part great Indurers of Cold, Labour, Hunger, and all Hardiness […]

Translations

See also

• foolhardiness
• hardness

Anagrams

• shandries

English

Etymology

1580s, originally a variant of metal, which had a figurative sense until the early 18th century.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?m?t.l?/, /?m?.t?l/
• Rhymes: -?t?l
• Homophones: metal, medal, meddle (in accents with flapping)

Noun

mettle (usually uncountable, plural mettles)

1. A quality of endurance and courage.

   Synonyms: courage, heart, spirit

   • 2001, Harry J. Alexandrowicz, Testing your Mettle: Tough Problems and Real-world Solutions for Middle and High School Teachers, page xiii

     Please read on and discover the issues in education that test the mettle of those who experience this world every day.
2. Good temperament and character.
3. (obsolete) Metal; a metallic substance.

Derived terms

• mettlesome

Translations

References