English
vanity
Vanity comes from Latin vānitas ‘emptiness, nothingness’, from vānus ‘vain, empty, vacant, void’, 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‘vain, empty, vacant, void’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvānitas‘emptiness, nothingness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vanité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vanite
- Englishearliest quotation 1611vanity
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‘vain, empty, vacant, void’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvānitas‘emptiness, nothingness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vanité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vanite
- Englishearliest quotation 1611vanity
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Then I said in my heart, As it happeneth…”
Formed from vain + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘empty, leave, abandon, give out’
Proto-Italic *wānos
Latin vānus ‘empty’
Old French vain
Middle English veyn
English vain
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘empty, leave, abandon, give out’
want, various, waste, variety, vacation, vast, void, vary, variable, evacuate, vacant, vacate, waning, wane, vacuous, varicella, 26 more
through Latin vānus ‘vain, empty, vacant, void’
Today it means
noun That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- / vanity