[f. VIVACIOUS a. + -NESS.]
1. Tenacity of life; longevity. rare.
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Devon., I. (1662), 248. Such their Fleetnesse, they will outrun many Horses; Vivaciousnesse, they out live most men.
1806. C. Symmons, Life Milton (1810), 433. The shameless vivaciousness with which it refused to remit its grasp of political existence.
1849. Southey’s Comm.-Pl. Bk., II. 605. Vivaciousness of the Acacia Tree.
2. Vivacity of manner or speech; liveliness, sprightliness.
1727. Bailey (vol. II.), Liveliness, vivaciousness, &c.
1807. S. Turner, Hist. Anglo-Sax. (ed. 2), IV. v. 279. There is a vivaciousness in his despair, which no danger can intimidate.
1872. J. C. Jeaffreson, Woman in Spite of Herself, I. v. He had achieved a reputation for humour and vivaciousness.
1882. J. Hawthorne, Fort. Fool, I. xix. One whose equanimity is not to be upset by the sallies of feminine vivaciousness.
