envy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɛnvi/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English envie, borrowed from Old French envie (“envy, jealousy, rivalry”),^[2][3][4] from Latin invidia (“envy, ill will”),^[2][3] from invidus (“envious”), from invideō (“to look at with malice, cast an evil eye upon”),^[2][3][5] from in (“upon”) and videō (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ill will at another's good fortune: about 1280 in Barnhart and the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline.^[2][6][3] Early senses included hostility, enmity and malice.^[5][7][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb is from before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^[2] Envy is one of the seven deadly sins.^[5] Active harm or mischief is an obsolete sense from before 1400,^[6] and the object of envy is from 1836.^[6] The Century Dictionary distinguished jealousy, ill will toward a rival for something one desires, from envy, ill will toward someone who already has it.^[3] Enviable is from 1602.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1280 – ill will at another's good fortune.^[2][6]
• before 1300 – malice, enmity (obsolete).^[6]
• before 1382 – to envy (verb).^[2]
• 1602 – enviable.^[2]
• 1836 – an object of envy.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A feeling of resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities or luck.
2. The person or thing that arouses such a feeling: the envy of the town.

Verb

1. To feel envy of someone or something; to wish to have what another has.

Word family

• envier
• envyingly
• envious
• unenvying
• penis envy

Related words

• enviable
• invidious
• vision
• jealousy

Usage notes

In East Anglian dialect to envy meant to wish for or desire, as not to envy a dish, not to care to eat it.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)