English
vainglorious
Vainglorious comes from Old French vain glorios, from Latin vānus ‘empty’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weh₂-‘empty, leave, abandon, give out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wānosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvānus‘empty’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vain glorios
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veinglorious
- Englishearliest quotation 1694vainglorious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weh₂-‘empty, leave, abandon, give out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wānosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvānus‘empty’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vain glorios
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veinglorious
- Englishearliest quotation 1694vainglorious
Earliest quotation: 1694, Robert South: “And the Apoſtle [Paul] ſeems here moſt peculiarly to…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘empty, leave, abandon, give out’
want, waste, variety, various, vast, vacation, vary, void, variable, vacant, evacuate, vacate, wane, waning, vacuous, varicella, 26 more
through Latin vānus ‘empty’
Today it means
adj Possessing excessive vanity or unwarranted pride.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- / vainglorious