Is checkedness a word?

Question

In the W3C HTML 5 specification, there are a number times the word checkedness is used, the following is where each word links to when used:

Form controls have a value and a checkedness.

Is checkedness a technical term or a word defined in a dictionary as I'm unable to find it in both UK and US dictionaries and I'm unsure of what it means?

If it is a word can a definition be provided.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 15 '15 at 21:16

3

A checkbox is checked or unchecked, and the -ness suffix is productive, meaning that it can be added freely to a word (in this case, a participle) to denote a state or quality. So they’ve coined checkedness as a technical term simply to mean “the state of being checked or unchecked”.

You probably wouldn’t find it in a dictionary, but it makes just as much sense as more common -edness terms—for example, handedness, the state of being left- or right-handed.

answered Oct 15 '15 at 21:16

Jon Purdy

32,386

(1) Even if 'productive' did mean 'can be added freely to a word', you should give supporting evidence. But (2) 'productive' is gradable: 'The suffix -ese is less productive than the suffix -less ...' {Understanding Morphology_Martin Haspelmath, Andrea Sims p117}... – Edwin Ashworth Jul 02 '16 at 09:58
, meaning that 'even though the suffix -ese is productive, it can't just be added at will to any word to give an automatically acceptable new word'. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 02 '16 at 10:01

Is checkedness a word?

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