the.com/fleetness
Speed with grace attached — a cheetah has it, a sprinting toddler does not.
means The quality of moving with swift, light speed.
from From 'fleet' (meaning swift), which comes from Old English 'fleotan' meaning to float or glide swiftly over water — the same root that gave us 'fleet' as in a fleet of ships. The sense drifted from boats skimming water to anything that moves with that same unhindered, gliding speed. '-ness' tacked on turns the quality into an abstract noun.
- root
- from fleet, old word for swift ships
- connotation
- implies lightness, not just velocity
- common use
- almost always paired with foot or feet