vanagloria

Forms

vanagloria f (plural vanaglorias)^[1] Old Spanish often wrote it as two words, uana gloria, and even in the plural uanas glorias.^[2] Corominas finds it written as one word in Alfonso de Palencia's vocabulary of 1490.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish vano + gloria, the adjective being used in its feminine form in the sense “arrogant, presumptuous”.^[4][5][3] Autoridades already explained it as a compound of the adjective and the noun.^[6] Wiktionary takes it from Medieval Latin vāna glōria, from vānus (“empty, groundless, boastful”) and glōria (“fame, boasting”).^[1] The cognates Portuguese vanglória and Italian vanagloria are formed in the same way, and English vainglory corresponds to it.^[1][7]

The first element continues the Latin adjective, which first meant “hollow, empty”.^[5] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *wāno-.^[8] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, leave”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Berceo uses it in his Vida de San Millán (c. 1230, known from an 18th-century copy): the saint, after his victory, non dio en sí entrada a nulla vanagloria “gave no entry in himself to any vainglory”.^[9] The first record in a manuscript of its own time is the Castigos of 1293, which lists it among the vices beside greed, lust, envy, gluttony and anger.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Berceo it means pride and arrogance, close to soberbia.^[10] Alfonso X's Estoria de España speaks of an emperor who cared little for the uana gloria of this world.^[11] Nebrija in 1495 gives Latin inanis gloria and Greek-derived cenodoxia as its equivalents.^[12][13] Autoridades in 1739 defines it as boasting of one's own knowledge or deeds, quoting Saint Teresa and Lope de Vega.^[6] The Academy's 1899 edition was the first to give its etymology, from the feminine adjective in the sense “presumptuous, arrogant” and the noun “glory”.^[14] In the Americas it is recorded from 1566, in Yucatán.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – Berceo uses it in the Vida de San Millán.^[9][5]
• 1270–1284 – Alfonso X's Estoria de España writes uana gloria.^[11]
• 1293 – first record in a manuscript of its own time, the Castigos.^[9]
• 1490 – written as one word in Alfonso de Palencia.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin inanis gloria.^[12]
• 1566 – first record from the Americas, in Yucatán.^[15]
• 1739 – Autoridades defines it and calls it a compound.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. vainglory, boastfulness: excessive pride in one's own worth or deeds: Contaba sus triunfos con mucha vanagloria.^[4][16][1]

Word family

• vanagloriarse
• vanaglorioso

Related words

• vanidad
• envanecer
• Portuguese vanglória
• Italian vanagloria
• English vainglory

Usage notes

The form vanagloria is also a form of the verb vanagloriarse, in se vanagloria “he boasts”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. vanagloria
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 738
4. ^ a b Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. vanagloria
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vano
6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 418
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vanglória
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. vanagloria
10. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 774
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. vanagloria
12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 428
13. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. vanagloria
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 1003
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. vanagloria
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vanagloria