[f. as prec. + -NESS.] Combative quality, readiness or propensity to fight, pugnacity. (Introduced as a Phrenological term.)
1815. Spurzheim, Physiognom. Syst., 303. Gall at first named this organ that of courage … afterwards … the organ of quarrelsomeness … I … call it the organ of the propensity to fight, or of combativeness.
1828. G. Combe, Const. Man, ii. § 4. Combativeness draws the sword and repels the attack.
1855. E. Forbes, Lit. Papers, i. 13. The author … erred evidently through hastiness, and persisted in error through combativeness.
