ennui English · revision 2454

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɒnˈwiː/ ''(UK)''; /ɑnˈwi/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|ennui|t=boredom]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) [[der|fro|enui|t=annoyance]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|fro|enuier|t=to annoy, vex]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) [[der|la-lat|*inodiāre|t=to make odious]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) from the Latin phrase ''in odiō esse'' “to be hateful”.^(AHD) It is thus a doublet of [[annoy]].^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mental weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of occupation or interest (1667).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was first used in English as a French word and was naturalized by 1758,^(Etymonline) though, as the OED noted, its pronunciation was never anglicized.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary date it to 1732.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) A verb ''to ennui'' “to bore” is recorded from 1805.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1667 – boredom, mental weariness.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1732 – first date given by Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+ * 1790 – a cause of ennui.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1805 – verb, to bore, weary.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Listless weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of interest; boredom.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To bore or weary.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[annoy]]

+ * [[odium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House lists ''listlessness'', ''tedium'', ''lassitude'' and ''languor'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}