vanity

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vanite, borrowed from Old French vanité (“self-conceit; futility”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from vānitās (“emptiness, falsity, foolish pride”),^[2][7][8] formed with the noun suffix that became -ity^[7][9] on vānus (“empty, idle”), the source of vain and vanish.^[10][2][11] Etymonline and the AHD trace the adjective to Proto-Indo-European *euə- (“to leave, abandon”),^[2][4] and Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate it to wane.^[12][7] The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the early 12th century, meant emptiness, an empty trifle, or exhaustion.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which is vain, futile or worthless: about 1200 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^[5][2] about 1230 in the OED, in Hali Meiðhad.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The early sense, futility or worthlessness, is the one of the Preacher's vanity of vanities; all is vanity in Ecclesiastes.^[11][2][14] Wasteful conduct or use of time is recorded from 1303,^[3][2] and a worthless thing or empty show from about 1340.^[3][2] The sense now most common, self-conceit and the wish to be admired, is recorded from the mid-14th century, in Richard Rolle.^[3][2] Johnson (1755) still gave "emptiness, uncertainty" first, followed by "fruitless desire", "trifling labour" and "petty pride".^[15] Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678) placed Vanity Fair in the town of Vanity, where worthless goods were sold;^[2][11][16] the name came to stand for the world as a place of frivolity, especially after Thackeray's novel of 1847–48.^[11][2][12] From the late 19th century the word formed names of things for personal adornment: the vanity table (by 1898), the vanity bag (by 1901) and the vanity case (about 1904).^[2][12] In North America vanity alone has meant a dressing table since 1937, and a bathroom cabinet with a washbasin since 1967.^[3] The adjective use, for things paid for or made to flatter their owner, dates from about 1925,^[7] as in vanity publishing (by 1960) and the customized vanity plate (by 1983).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – that which is vain or worthless.^[5][2]
• 1303 – unprofitable conduct or use of time.^[3]
• c. 1340 – self-conceit, the desire for admiration.^[3]
• 1678 – Vanity Fair, in Bunyan.^[2]
• 1898 – vanity table.^[2]
• c. 1904 – vanity case.^[12]
• c. 1925 – adjective, paid for by the author or made for show.^[7]
• 1937 – (North America) a dressing table.^[3]
• 1967 – (North America) a vanity unit.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Too high an opinion of one's own looks, abilities or achievements; conceit: It was pure vanity that stopped him wearing glasses.
2. The quality of being worthless or futile; something empty or useless: the vanity of earthly riches.
3. (North America) A dressing table; also a cabinet with a washbasin set into it.

Adjective

1. Paid for or produced chiefly to please or show off its owner or creator, as in vanity press and vanity project.

Word family

• vanity case
• vanity press
• vanity plate
• Vanity Fair

Related words

• vain
• vanish
• vacant
• wane

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray