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vexation

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Etymology and origin of the English word vexation

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1413–1419 Book of London English More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman vexacion via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin vexō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vexō
Latin vexātiō
English vexation
From the same root
English vex ← vexō
Latin vexator ← vexō

Pronunciation

  • UK: /vɛkˈseɪʃn̩/[1]
  • US: /vɛkˈseɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vexacioun,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman vexacion and Old French vexation,[2][5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin vexātiō (“violent agitation, shaking, harassment, distress”).[5][2][6][3] The French word is recorded from 1261 in the sense of harassment, and the Anglo-Norman from 1406.[5][7] The Latin noun is formed from vexātus, the past participle of vexō (“to shake, jolt, harass, trouble”),[5][6][4] the source of vex.[5][6] The OED calls the verb of uncertain origin and perhaps related to vehō (“to carry”),[5] while Etymonline derives it from that verb, and so from Proto-Indo-European *wegh- (“to go, move, transport”).[6] The Romance languages have parallel forms: Italian vessazione (before 1306), Spanish vejación, Portuguese vexação and Catalan vexació (1392).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Harassment, especially by unjustified claims: 1413–19, in a text printed in Chambers and Daunt's Book of London English.[5] Etymonline dates "legal harassment" to about 1400,[6] and Dictionary.com dates the word 1350–1400.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word covered bodily suffering as well as the trouble done to others.[2] The first quotation for physical distress is in H. Daniel's Liber Uricrisiarum, in a manuscript from before 1425.[5][2] A use for subjecting something to violence or force is recorded from 1605 to 1702.[5] Harassment by legal action, which the Middle English Dictionary already records, is now the word's chief use for harassment.[2][5][4] Mental distress is recorded from the early 15th century,[5][6] and the fixed phrases vexation of mind and vexation of spirit from the Coverdale Bible of 1535.[5] The OED notes that later use leans toward annoyance and irritation.[5] A cause of such feelings was also a vexation: mid-15th century in Etymonline, 1588 in the OED.[6][5] Johnson (1755) listed the act of troubling, the state of being troubled, its cause, and harassing.[8]

Timeline

  • 1413–19 – harassment by aggression or unjustified claims.[5][9] Etymonline dates the legal sense to about 1400.[6]
  • before 1425 – physical disturbance or suffering.[5][2]
  • probably before 1425 – mental distress.[5]
  • before 1525 – strict examination, calling to account (obsolete).[5]
  • 1535 – vexation of mind, vexation of spirit, in the Coverdale Bible.[5]
  • 1588 – a source of trouble; an annoyance.[5][9] Etymonline dates this sense to the mid-15th century.[6]
  • 1605 – subjecting something to violence or force, in B. Jonson (obsolete by 1702).[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The state of being annoyed or troubled; irritation: She tore up the letter in vexation.[10][4][5]
  2. The act of troubling or harassing, especially (law) by unjustified legal action.[4][5][10]
  3. A cause of trouble or annoyance: The leaking roof was a constant vexation.[10][4][5]

Word family

  • vexatious
  • unvexatious

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  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 Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Vexation.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/vexation. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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