vanity
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]
A vanity (dressing table; sense 3).
A bathroom vanity (sense 4).
From va(i)n + -ity, from Middle English vanite, from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitas, from vānus, whence English vain. Doublet of vanitas.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈvænɪti/
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈvænəti/, [-ɾi]
Audio (General American): (file) - Hyphenation: van‧i‧ty
Noun
[edit]vanity (countable and uncountable, plural vanities)
- That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 2:15–16:
- Then I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me and why then was I more wise? Then I said in my heart that this is also vanity. / For there is no more remembrance of the wise than the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
- Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own abilities, appearance, achievements, or possessions.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Project”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 224:
- To make a man in love with you gives an instant hold on his vanity; and with that, you can do any thing. Vanity is the real lever with which Archimedes said he could move the earth; so, try what you can effect with Sir Robert.
- 2024 November 29, Joshua Stylman, How Engineered Dependency Erases Our Autonomy[1]:
- Social media hasn’t just weaponized our vanity—it’s transformed us from humans into curated digital performances. Our phones have become portable propaganda machines for our personal brands.
- A dressing table used to apply makeup, preen, and coif hair. The table is normally quite low and similar to a desk, with drawers and one or more mirrors on top. Either a chair or bench is used to sit upon.
- 2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 148:
- She was sitting in front of her vanity, brushing out her hair.
- A washbasin installed into a permanently fixed storage unit, used as an item of bathroom furniture.
- (obsolete) Any idea, theory or statement that is without foundation.
- It is a vanity to say that if two stones are dropped from a tower, the heavier will experience the greater acceleration.
- 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
- To help the matter, the alchemists call in likewise many vanities out of astrology.
Synonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]that which is vain
|
excessive pride
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dressing table — see dressing table
emptiness
bathroom furniture
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Further reading
[edit]
vanity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - “vanity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “vanity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁weh₂-
- English terms suffixed with -ity
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Furniture