# vain
## English
### Alternative forms

* wayn (obsolete)

### Pronunciation

* enPR: vān, IPA: /veɪn/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophones: vane, vein
* Rhymes: -eɪn

### Etymology 1

From Middle English veyn, from Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).

#### Adjective

vain (comparative vainer or more vain, superlative vainest or most vain)
* Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
    Synonyms: conceited, flatulent, puffed up, inflated; see also Thesaurus:arrogant, Thesaurus:vain
** 1959, Leo Rosten, The return of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N:Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
* Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
    Synonyms: idle; see also Thesaurus:insignificant
** c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:I will not hear thy vain excuse
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:6:Let no man deceive you with vain words.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy.
* Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
    Synonyms: pointless, futile, fruitless, ineffectual; see also Thesaurus:futile
    vain toil    a vain attempt
** 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXX, page 48:At our old pastimes in the hall ⁠We gambol’d, making vain pretence ⁠Of gladness, with an awful sense Of one mute Shadow watching all.
** 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.
* Showy; ostentatious.
    Synonyms: brash, pizazzy; see also Thesaurus:gaudy
** 1735, Alexander Pope, “Epistle 4”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume II, London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 40, lines 25–30:Yet ſhall (my Lord) your juſt, your noble Rules / Fill half the land with imitating Fools: / VVho random dravvings from your ſheets ſhall take, / And of one beauty many blunders make; / Load ſome vain Church with old Theatric State, / Turn Arcs of Triumph to a Garden-gate, […]

##### Derived terms

* in vain
** Richard of York gave battle in vain
** take someone's name in vain
* vainness
* vainly

##### Related terms

* vanity

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

A conversion of the adjectival form of vain. The only use of this verb in English appears c. 1628 in the writings of Owen Felltham.

#### Verb

vain (third-person singular simple present vains, present participle vaining, simple past and past participle vained)
* (transitive, rare, dated, obsolete) To frustrate. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

##### Further reading

* “vain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “vain”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “vain”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* Vani, Viña, Vina, Vian, 'avin', Ivan, Na'vi, ivan, vani, vina

## Dalmatian
### Alternative forms

* ven

### Etymology

From Latin vīnum. Compare Istriot veîn.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /βeŋ/

### Noun

vain m
* wine

## Finnish
### Alternative forms

* vaan (colloquial, all senses; also has other non-colloquial meanings)

### Etymology

Probably an old instructive plural of the stem vaja- (*vajin). Cognate with Estonian vaid.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈʋɑi̯n/, [ˈʋɑ̝i̯n]
* Rhymes: -ɑin
* Hyphenation: vain

### Adverb

vain
* only, merely, exclusively, solely, just
    Olen vain ihminen.I am just/only a human.
    Paita maksoi vain kaksi euroa.The shirt cost just/only two euros.
* ever (when used with an interrogative pronoun)
    Synonym: tahansa
    mikä vain ― whatever
    milloin vain ― whenever
* An emphatic word used with the negative verb and -kö.
    Kävit siellä, etkö vain?You went there, didn't you?
    Tämä on se, eikö vain?This is it, right?
* (with a verb in imperative) go ahead, be my guest (in positive); definitely (in negative)
    Synonyms: sen kuin, sen kun, ihmeessä
    "Saanko syödä viimeisen suklaapalan?" "Syö vain.""May I eat the last piece of chocolate?" "Go ahead (and eat it)."
    Älä vain oleta minun syöneen viimeistä kakkupalaa.Definitely don't assume I ate the last slice of cake.

#### Derived terms

* kuka vain
* mikä vain

### Further reading

* “vain”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

### Anagrams

* inva-, ivan, niva, vian

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French vain, from Latin vānus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /vɛ̃/
* Audio:(file)
* Homophones: vainc, vaincs, vains, vin, vingt, vingts, vins, vint, vînt

### Adjective

vain (feminine vaine, masculine plural vains, feminine plural vaines)
* useless, ineffective, fruitless
    Synonyms: see inutile
* vain, shallow
    Synonym: frivole

#### Derived terms

* en vain

#### Related terms

* vanité
* vaniteux

### Further reading

* “vain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Norman
### Etymology

From Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).

### Adjective

vain m
* (Jersey) vain

#### Derived terms

* vainement (“vainly”)