'captiousness' originates from English, specifically the word 'captious' with the suffix '-ness', where 'captious' meant 'tending to find fault' and the suffix '-ness' forms an abstract noun indicating a state or quality.

'captious' changed from Latin 'captiosus' (via Late Latin and Old French/Middle English influences) and eventually became the modern English adjective 'captious'; the noun 'captiousness' was later formed by adding the nominalizing suffix '-ness' to 'captious'.

Initially, Latin 'captiosus' carried a sense of 'deceptive' or 'intended to entrap'; over time the meaning shifted in English toward 'tending to raise petty objections' and this is the sense reflected in 'captiousness'.