'incompleteness' originates from the Latin word 'incompletus', where 'in-' meant 'not' and 'completus' meant 'filled up or finished'.

'incompletus' transformed into the Old French word 'incomplet', and eventually became the modern English word 'incomplete' with the suffix '-ness' to form 'incompleteness'.

Initially, it meant 'not filled up or finished', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.