'bonyness' originates from English, specifically from the adjective 'bony' (derived from 'bone' + the adjectival suffix '-y'), where 'bone' ultimately traces to Old English 'bān' meaning 'bone'.

'bone' comes from Old English 'bān'; the adjective 'bony' developed from 'bone' + '-y'; the noun form 'boniness' (and variant spelling 'bonyness') was formed by adding the noun suffix '-ness' to 'bony'.

Initially the root referred simply to the physical 'bone'; over time derivatives like 'bony' and 'boniness' came to mean 'having prominent bones' or 'characterized by bones' rather than referring to the bone itself.