languor
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English langore, langour (“disease, illness; misery, sadness; suffering; condition or event causing sadness, suffering, etc.; unwholesomeness; idleness, inertia; depression, self-disgust; expression of grief”) [and other forms], from Middle French languer, langueur, langour, and Anglo-Norman langor, langour, langur, Old French langueur, languour (“disease, illness; suffering; emotional fatigue, sadness; listlessness; stagnation”) (modern French langueur (“languor”)), and from their etymon Latin languor (“faintness, feebleness; languor; apathy”), from languēre, the present active infinitive of langueō (“to feel faint or weak; (figurative) to be idle, inactive; to be listless”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-, *(s)leh₁g-. The English word is cognate with Catalan llangor, Italian languore (“faintness, weakness; languor”), langore (obsolete), Old Occitan langor (modern Occitan langor), Portuguese langor, languor (obsolete), Spanish langor.
Inflected forms:
form: languors
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: languour
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: languors
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: languoring
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: languored
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: languored
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a languid or weary feeling; lassitude; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: languor of convalescence
Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly, that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.
As the opinion announcements have stretched past the half-hour mark, some in the public gallery exhibit a bit of languor, but they perk up when [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena] Kagan begins discussing western gray squirrels.
gloss: Melancholy caused by lovesickness, sadness, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: Dullness, sluggishness; lack of vigour; stagnation.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: I rushed towards her, and embraced her with ardour; but the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished.
From languor she passed to the lightest vivacity; her temper became merry and wild in the extreme; she was all at once a tease, a tomboy, and a witch.
gloss: Listless indolence or inactivity, especially if enjoyable or relaxing; dreaminess; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: It is earth's brief breathing space, after the heat and hurry of her busier time; like that repose known only to the young and happy, when the nerves gradually compose themselves, the thoughts gather into some vague but delicious train, and the eyes are closed by languor before sleep.
The languor of Youth—how unique and quintessential it is! How quickly, how irrecoverably lost! The zest, the generous affections, the illusions, the despair, all the traditional attributes of Youth—all save this—come and go with us through life; [...] but languor—the relaxation of yet unwearied sinews, the mind sequestered and self-regarding, the sun standing still in the heavens and the earth throbbing to our own pulse—that belongs to Youth alone and dies with it.
Repose! The very word has a nostalgic ring to it, conjuring up a vanished world of pale solitude, gentle distances, summer vistas, languour, and lovely women …
gloss: Heavy humidity and stillness of the air.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: There is a languor in the air which encourages your own, and the poetry of memory is in every drooping flower and falling leaf.
[A] certain languor in the air hinted at an early summer.
The evening was mild, with a certain languor in the air.
gloss: Sorrow; suffering; also, enfeebling disease or illness; (countable, obsolete) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
gloss: To languish.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
Related words: languid
languidly
languidness
languish
languished
languisher
languishing
languishingly
languishment
languorous
languorously
Translations: