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Topic: Vain

When a young colleague of ours was recently stymied, he was told his efforts had been in vain. Our friend was certain his vain labors were not the result of vanity, but he wasn't confident that the phrase in vain is not somehow related to vanity.

So is there a link between the vain that means "idle; worthless; unsuccessful; useless;" and the vanity naming "conceit;" or "inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance?"

Let's look at the Latin vanus (meaning "empty; vain"). Back in the waning days of Old English, vanus worked its magic on our lexicon, turning up as ancestral kin of words ranging from waste to wane, and from vacant to vanish. When vain first appeared in English back in the 14th century, the vanus influence was clear; vain described something "having no real value, worth, or significance." It's easy to see how the next senses developed, the one meaning "fruitless; unsuccessful;" and the other, now-archaic sense of "foolish" or "silly." And by the time Middle English was spoken, vain had developed its sense associated with vanity: "having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements; conceited." Surely this sense of vain can be understood as "silly, unsuccessful," and "without significance." And similarly, the adverbial in vain meaning "to no end; without success or result" reflects the earlier, empty senses of vain, not the vain stressing the false fullness of excessive pride.

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mrgreen

That was an interesting one!