vainglorious

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vein-glorious, also vaineglorious,^[2] formed from English vainglory + -ous,^[3][4][5][6] which itself is from Medieval Latin vāna glōria (“empty glory”).^[3][4] The Shorter Oxford sees the influence of Old French vaneglorieus and Medieval Latin vanagloriosus,^[6] and Etymonline allows a direct source in Old French vain glorios (“boastful, swaggering”).^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged instead takes vanegloreous through Middle French from Medieval Latin vaniglorius, from Latin vānus (“vain”) and glōria (“glory”).^[7] The OED compares Spanish vanaglorioso, Italian vanaglorioso and Portuguese vanglorioso.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Full of excessive pride, boastful: about 1460, in Tree & Fruits, which speaks of "þe vayne glorious blast of mannys mouth".^[2] The OED's first record is later, perhaps before 1500, in Henryson's translation of Aesop's Fables,^[3] and Dictionary.com gives 1470–80;^[5] Etymonline says the early 15th century,^[4] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged the 15th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

At first the word could be followed by of, naming the thing one was proud of, a construction now given up;^[3][6] from about 1510, in More's translation of Pico della Mirandola, it also stands alone.^[3] From 1533 it was applied to things, to what shows or comes from vainglory, and not only to people.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "boasting without performances; proud in disproportion to desert".^[8] Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1796) recorded a slang definition of the vain-glorious man: "One who boasts without reason, or, as the canters say, pisses more than he drinks."^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1460 – full of excessive pride, boastful.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century.^[4]
• before 1500 – inordinately proud of something, followed by of.^[3]
• c. 1510 – inordinately boastful, standing alone.^[3]
• 1533 – of things, characterized by or proceeding from vainglory.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Excessively proud of oneself; boastful: a vainglorious general who took credit for every victory.^{[9][7][3][10]}
2. Marked by or showing vainglory; ostentatious: a vainglorious speech.^[9][3][10]

Word family

• vaingloriously
• vaingloriousness

Related words

• vainglory
• vain
• glory
• glorious
• vanity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins