entry
inanity
/ɪˈnænɪti/emptiness; absurd lack of substance
From Latin inane (empty).
from Latin inanitas "emptiness, empty space," figuratively "worthlessness," noun of quality
+1 more sourcefrom French inanité (14c.) or directly
+1 more sourcefrom Latin inanitas "emptiness, empty space," figuratively "worthlessness," noun of quality
+1 more sourcefrom French inanité (14c.) or directly
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin inanitas "emptiness, empty space," figuratively "worthlessness," noun of quality
+1 more sourcefrom French inanité (14c.) or directly
+1 more sourcefrom Latin inanitas "emptiness, empty space," figuratively "worthlessness," noun of quality
+1 more sourcefrom French inanité (14c.) or directly
+1 more sourceA word for nonsense began as a word for emptiness — the kind you’d find in an abandoned room or a cupboard with nothing on the shelf. Latin had inanitas, and French polished it into inanité before English borrowed it around 1600, still smelling faintly of the scholar’s desk. Then the meaning drifted, as meanings do: by 1753, it could mean silliness, not just vacancy, as if the brain itself had been left unfurnished. What’s deliciously weird is that this family never had to shout; it just pointed at the void and let the void do the talking. Say someone’s argument has inanity, and you’re not calling it evil — just air in a waistcoat.
The Story
A word for nonsense began as a word for emptiness — the kind you’d find in an abandoned room or a cupboard with nothing on the shelf. Latin had inanitas, and French polished it into inanité before English borrowed it around 1600, still smelling faintly of the scholar’s desk. Then the meaning drifted, as meanings do: by 1753, it could mean silliness, not just vacancy, as if the brain itself had been left unfurnished. What’s deliciously weird is that this family never had to shout; it just pointed at the void and let the void do the talking. Say someone’s argument has inanity, and you’re not calling it evil — just air in a waistcoat.
Kin & Kindred
From 'inane'·empty, void, worthless
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-ity'·state or quality of being
Derived Terms
English words from this root