Standard Lemma guide

cleanliness

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈklɛn.li.nᵻs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • South-Asia: /ˈklɛn.li.nɛs/
  • South-Asia: /ˈklin-/
  • CMU ARPABET: K L EH1 N L IY0 N IH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The property of being cleanly, or habitually clean; good hygiene.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Ritual purity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

diligence in keeping clean

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: uncleanliness

Broader terms: trait

Narrower terms: fastidiousness, tidiness, neatness

4

noun

Meaning 4

the habit of keeping free of superficial imperfections

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: habit, use

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English cleanly Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English cleanliness From cleanly + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: نَظَافَة (naẓāfa) — the property of being cleanly
  • Armenian: մաքրություն (makʻrutʻyun) — the property of being cleanly
  • Azerbaijani: təmizlik — the property of being cleanly
  • Belarusian: чыстата́ (čystatá) — the property of being cleanly
  • Belarusian: чысціня́ (čyscinjá) — the property of being cleanly
  • Belarusian: чы́стасць (čýstascʹ) — the property of being cleanly
  • Breton: naetadurezh — the property of being cleanly
  • Bulgarian: чистота́ (čistotá) — the property of being cleanly
  • Catalan: netedat — the property of being cleanly
  • Chinese Mandarin: 清潔 /清洁 (qīngjié) — the property of being cleanly
  • Czech: čistota — the property of being cleanly
  • Czech: čistost — the property of being cleanly
  • Danish: renlighed — the property of being cleanly
  • Esperanto: pureco — the property of being cleanly
  • Finnish: puhtaus — the property of being cleanly
  • Finnish: siisteys — the property of being cleanly
  • French: propreté — the property of being cleanly
  • German: Sauberkeit — the property of being cleanly
  • German: Reinlichkeit — the property of being cleanly
  • Greek: καθαριότητα (kathariótita) — the property of being cleanly
  • Ancient Greek: καθαρότης (katharótēs) — the property of being cleanly
  • Hebrew: ניקיון (niqaion) — the property of being cleanly
  • Hindi: सफ़ाई (safāī) — the property of being cleanly
  • Hungarian: tisztaság — the property of being cleanly
  • Ido: neteso — the property of being cleanly
  • Ingrian: siivo — the property of being cleanly
  • Irish: glanachar — the property of being cleanly
  • Irish: glaineacht — the property of being cleanly
  • Italian: pulizia — the property of being cleanly
  • Japanese: 清潔 (seiketsu) — the property of being cleanly
  • Latvian: tīrīgums — the property of being cleanly
  • Macedonian: чистота (čistota) — the property of being cleanly
  • Norwegian Bokmål: renslighet — the property of being cleanly
  • Norwegian Bokmål: reinslighet — the property of being cleanly
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: reinsemd — the property of being cleanly
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: reinslegheit — the property of being cleanly
  • Plautdietsch: Reinheit — the property of being cleanly
  • Polish: czystość — the property of being cleanly
  • Polish: czystota — the property of being cleanly
  • Portuguese: limpeza — the property of being cleanly
  • Quechua: mayllay — the property of being cleanly
  • Russian: чистота́ (čistotá) — the property of being cleanly
  • Russian: чи́стость (čístostʹ) — the property of being cleanly
  • Serbo-Croatian: чистоћа — the property of being cleanly
  • Serbo-Croatian: чистост — the property of being cleanly
  • Serbo-Croatian: čistoća — the property of being cleanly
  • Serbo-Croatian: čistost — the property of being cleanly
  • Slovak: čistota — the property of being cleanly
  • Slovak: čistosť — the property of being cleanly
  • Slovene: čistoča — the property of being cleanly
  • Spanish: limpieza — the property of being cleanly
  • Swahili: usafi — the property of being cleanly
  • Tamil: தூய்மை (tūymai) — the property of being cleanly
  • Telugu: శుభ్రము (śubhramu) — the property of being cleanly
  • Turkish: taharet — the property of being cleanly
  • Turkish: temizlik — the property of being cleanly
  • Ottoman Turkish: طهارت (tahâret) — the property of being cleanly
  • Ottoman Turkish: تمیزلك (temizlik) — the property of being cleanly
  • Ukrainian: чистота́ (čystotá) — the property of being cleanly
  • Ukrainian: чи́стість (čýstistʹ) — the property of being cleanly