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Origin and history of vain

vain(adj.)

c. 1300, vein, "having no value or importance;" also "idle, unprofitable, fruitless, producing no good result;" from Old French vain, vein "worthless, void, invalid, feeble; conceited" (12c.), from Latin vanus "empty, void," figuratively "idle, fruitless" (from suffixed form of PIE root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out").

By late 14c. in reference to persons, "silly, idle, foolish;" the meaning "conceited, proud of petty things or trifling attainments" is recorded by 1690s. The phrase in vain "to no effect" (c. 1300, after Latin in vanum) preserves the older sense. Related: Vainly; vainness. Compare also vainglory.

In Middle English also sometimes with the classical literal sense "empty, vacant;" Wycliffe (1382) in Genesis has Þe erþ was veyn withinne and voyde.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to vain

vainglory(n.)

c. 1200, vein-glorie, "worthless glory, meaningless honor, undue pomp or show," waynglori, from Old French vaine glorie, from Medieval Latin vana gloria "empty glory" (see vain + glory (n.)).

*eue-

*euə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to leave, abandon, give out," with derivatives meaning "abandoned, lacking, empty."

It might form all or part of: avoid; devastation; devoid; evacuate; evanescent; vacant; vacate; vacation; vacuity; vacuole; vacuous; vacuum; vain; vanish; vanity; vaunt; void; wane; want; wanton; waste.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit una- "deficient;" Avestan va- "lack," Persian vang "empty, poor;" Armenian unain "empty;" Latin vacare "to be empty," vastus "empty, waste," vanus "empty, void," figuratively "idle, fruitless;" Old English wanian "to lessen," wan "deficient;" Old Norse vanta "to lack."

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    Trends of vain

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    swollen
    "swelled, marked by swelling in any sense," early 14c., originally "bloated, distended; suffering a morbid swelling," past-participle adjective from the strong conjugation of swell (v.); from Old English geswollen, past participle of swellan. More commonly used than swelled. Poet
    frustration
    frustratio) "a deception, a disappointment," noun of action from past-participle stem of frustrari "to deceive, disappoint, make vain..."in vain, in error," which is related to fraus "injury, harm," a word of uncertain origin (see fraud)....
    idleness
    Old English idelnes "frivolity, vanity, emptiness; vain existence;" see idle (adj.) + -ness....Old English expressed the idea we attach to in vain by in idelnisse....
    idle
    Old English idel "empty, void; vain; worthless, useless," from Proto-West Germanic *idla- (source also of Old Saxon idal,...Old Frisian idel "empty, worthless," Old Dutch idil, Old High German ital, German eitel "vain, useless, mere, pure"), a...
    intramercurial
    being within the orbit of the planet Mercury," 1859, especially in reference to a supposed planet orbiting there (sought in vain...It was sought in vain in the solar eclipses of 1860, '68, and '69. See Vulcan....
    strut
    "walk in a vain, important manner, walk with affected dignity," 1590s, from Middle English strouten "display one's clothes...The noun meaning "a vain and affectedly dignified manner of walking" is from c. 1600....
    rodomontade
    1610s (earlier rodomontado, 1590s), "vain boasting like that of Rodomonte," a character in Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso" (earlier...
    vein
    c. 1300, from Old French veine "vein, artery, pulse" (12c.), from Latin vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein of metal, a person's natural ability or interest," of unknown origin. The mining sense is attested in English from late 14c. (Greek phleps "vein" had the sa
    garden
    late 13c. (late 12c. in surnames), from Old North French gardin "(kitchen) garden; orchard; palace grounds" (Old French jardin, 13c., Modern French jardin), from Vulgar Latin *hortus gardinus "enclosed garden," via Frankish *gardo or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germani
    miasma
    1660s, "effluvia arising from the ground and floating in the atmosphere, considered to be infectious or injurious to health," from Modern Latin miasma "noxious vapors," from Greek miasma (genitive miasmatos) "stain, pollution, defilement, taint of guilt," from stem of miainein "t

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