entry
vanity
/ˈvæ.nɪ.ti/Excessive pride or empty futility
From Latin van (empty).
from PIE *wano- , suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,...
from Latin vanitatem (nominative vanitas ) "emptiness, aimlessness; falsity," figuratively "vainglory, foolish pride,"
from Old French vanite "self-conceit; futility; lack of resolve" (12c.)
Word Ancestry
from PIE *wano- , suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,...
from Latin vanitatem (nominative vanitas ) "emptiness, aimlessness; falsity," figuratively "vainglory, foolish pride,"
from Old French vanite "self-conceit; futility; lack of resolve" (12c.)
Before vanity became a mirror-word, it was an emptiness word. Latin speakers used vanus for things that were hollow, idle, or not worth much — a broken promise, a pointless effort, a puff of smoke. Then the Bible gave the word a theater seat in the famous line “Vanity of vanities” from Ecclesiastes, which English readers knew well by the King James Bible of 1611; suddenly the word could mean not just futility, but the flimsy pride built on top of it. That’s why vanity and vainglory feel like cousins: both point to the absurd little performance of puffing yourself up over almost nothing. And the furniture sense — vanity table, vanity bag — is deliciously literal, because the word that once meant emptiness ended up naming the place where people admire their own reflection. Empty on the inside, polished on the outside. That’s vanity in one sentence.
The Story
Before vanity became a mirror-word, it was an emptiness word. Latin speakers used vanus for things that were hollow, idle, or not worth much — a broken promise, a pointless effort, a puff of smoke. Then the Bible gave the word a theater seat in the famous line “Vanity of vanities” from Ecclesiastes, which English readers knew well by the King James Bible of 1611; suddenly the word could mean not just futility, but the flimsy pride built on top of it. That’s why vanity and vainglory feel like cousins: both point to the absurd little performance of puffing yourself up over almost nothing. And the furniture sense — vanity table, vanity bag — is deliciously literal, because the word that once meant emptiness ended up naming the place where people admire their own reflection. Empty on the inside, polished on the outside. That’s vanity in one sentence.
Kin & Kindred
From 'van'·empty, void, futile
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary