vanus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈwaː.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvaː.nus]^[1]

Forms

vānus (feminine vāna, neuter vānum, superlative vānissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wāno- (or *wāsno-), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ueh₂-no-, from the root *h₁weh₂- “to leave, be empty”.^[2][1] If it is related to vāstus “empty, desolate”, it may go back to *wās-no-.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit ऊन (ūná, “lacking”), Avestan ūna (“deficient”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (wans, “lacking”).^[2][1] The OLD compares English want.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[2][4] who has “you sing the truth” — “I wish it were empty”.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant empty or hollow, as of ears of grain or trees, and then insubstantial or illusory.^[3][5] Of statements it meant false or groundless, of people untrustworthy or boastful, and of efforts useless or vain, in vānum meant “in vain”.^[3][4]

In medieval Latin vānum pāstūrāgium was the right of grazing on fallow land.^[6] Through Old French vain it gave English vain about 1300; vānitās gave English vanity, and vānāre “to talk idly” led to Old French vanter and English vaunt.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of empty words.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of a harvest that cheated with empty ears.^[5][4]
• c. 1200 – English vanity is recorded.^[7]
• c. 1300 – English vain is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Empty, hollow, insubstantial.^[3]
2. Illusory, empty (of meaning or force).^[3]
3. false, groundless.^[3]
4. (of persons) Untrustworthy, lying; boastful.^[3]
5. futile, vain, in vānum, in vain.^[3][4]

Related words

• vānēscō
• vānitās
• vāstus
• English vain
• English vanity
• English vaunt

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com