'badness' originates from English, formed by attaching the noun-forming suffix '-ness' to the adjective 'bad'.

'bad' is attested in Middle English as 'bad(e)' and developed into modern English 'bad'; the suffix '-ness' (Old English -ness) was added to create 'badness' in later Middle English/early Modern English.

Originally, 'bad' covered senses of 'inferior' or 'harmful'; over time it came to include moral wickedness and general poor quality. 'Badness' has correspondingly been used to denote the state or quality of being bad in both moral and non-moral senses.