Forms: 3–4 uanite, 4–5 (6 Sc.) vanite (5 wan-), 5–6 vanitee, 6–7 vanitie (6 Sc. wan-), 6– vanity (6 -tye); 4–6 vanyte (5 wan-, wann-), 4–6 vanytee, 6 vanytye, -tie. [a. OF. vanite (F. vanité, = It. vanità, Sp. vanidad, Pg. vaidade), ad. L. vānitāt-, vānitās, f. vānus VAIN a.]
1. That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value or profit.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 27. Hare confort & hare delit, hwerin is hit al meast, bute i flesches fulðe oðer in weorldes uanite…?
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 331. Þose vnwyse ledes Þat affyen hym in vanyte & in vayne þynges.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1619. Þus es þe world, and þe lyfe þare-in, Ful of vanyte and of syn.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 431. Þonkinge of enemyes is but vanite.
c. 1450. Lovelich, Grail, xliii. 316. Whanne alle this haddist þou seyn,… vpe thou ryse, and bethowhtest the Whethir it were soth oþer vanite.
c. 1480. Henryson, Abbey Walk, 51 (Bann.). Thy power and thy warldis pelf Is nocht bot verry vanitie.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xlvi. 98. This frustir luve all is bot vanite.
1611. Bible, Ps. xxxix. 5. Euery man at his best state is altogether vanitie.
1691. Ray, Creation, I. (1704), 76. We see nothing in the Heavens which argues Chance, Vanity or Error.
1834. Mathew, Serm., ii. 44. Yet you often … are disposed to own that all in this world is vanity.
b. Vain and unprofitable conduct or employment of time.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 3346. Forsoþe hyt semeþ weyl to be Al here lyfe yn vanyte.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 7228. Þai … swa mysturned here þair lyfyng In-tylle vanyte and flesschly lykyng.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 729. But efter al this nyce vanite, They took hire leve, and hom they wente alle.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 219. Lat reson brydle thy sensualite,… Ageyn al worldly disordinat vanyte.
1514. Barclay, Cyt. & Uplondyshman (Percy Soc.), 5. Men labour sorer in fruyteles vanyte, Than in fayre warkes of grete utylyte.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 73. I pray the, Lord,… All vanitie and lieand word, Full far away thow put fra me.
1607. Melton, Sixe-folde Politician (Arb.), 114. As the enterludes may be tearmed the Schoole-house vanitie and wantonnes.
1612. Two Noble K., II. ii. 109. All those pleasures That wooe the wils of men to vanity.
1751. Transl. & Paraph. Sc. Ch., xxvii. 102. In Vanity ye waste your Days.
† c. In vanity, in vain. Obs.–1
1509. Hawes, Conv. Swearers, 23. Ye dare not take their names in vanyte.
2. The quality of being vain or worthless; the futility or worthlessness of something.
c. 1325. Prose Psalter li. 7. He was michel worþ in his vanite.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xi. 1. A haly man þat sees þe vanyte of þe warld multiplid.
1382. Wyclif, Eph. iv. 17. That ȝe walke not now, as and hethen men walken, in the vanyte of her witt.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 7121. Thus curstly þat knighthode … Voidet þere victory for vanite of speche.
1451. Capgrave, Life St. Aug., 9. In all þis vanyte of his lif he happed to fynde a book þat Tullius Cicero mad.
1535. Coverdale, Ecclus. xvii. 31. He hath pleasure in the vanyte of wickedness.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 31. A fabulous story, whereof the vanity is so much the more visible.
1674. Essex Papers (Camden), I. 200. This [rumour] alarmed me so much that I had little rest till Trear. spoke with King who assured him of the vanity of it.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 159, ¶ 2. I fell into a profound Contemplation on the Vanity of human Life.
1741. C. Middleton, Cicero, II. viii. 216. The vanity of expecting any lasting glory.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xxxiv. The Bohemian had gone where the vanity of his dreadful creed was to be put to the final issue.
1834. Tait’s Mag., I. 699/1. The noble Lord might have anticipated the vanity of his exertions.
1864. Pusey, Lect. Daniel (1876), 274. The vanity of the resistance of the kings of Judah.
† b. The quality of being foolish or of holding erroneous opinions. Obs.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Miller’s T., 649. Of his vanytee He hadde yboght hym knedyng tubbes thre. Ibid., Clerk’s T., 194. Wol nat oure lord yet leue his vanytee? Wol he nat wedde?
1578. Timme, Calvin on Gen., 26. Whereby their vanitie is overthrowen which think that the world was a matter alwayes without forme.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., II. 46/10. That … [they] mycht now se thair awne daftnes, and lach or greit at thair awne vanitie.
1660. in Extr. St. P. rel. Friends, Ser. II. (1911), 123. Your petitioner is in great dread and horrour of an oath (though hee detests the vanity of Quakers and such like giddy people).
3. The quality of being personally vain; high opinion of oneself; self-conceit and desire for admiration.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xv. 4. Synn and vnclennes þat þai ere in þat folous þaire flesch and þe vanyte of þaire blode.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 166. That whil he stod in that noblesse, He scholde his vanite represse With suche wordes as he herde.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1730. Be vanyte & vayne glori þat þi wayns kindlis. Ibid., 1784. All þi vanyte to voide & þi vayne pride.
c. 1430. Lydg., Minor Poems (Percy Soc.), 65. Yowre blynde fantesies now in hertis weyve Of childisshe vanyte, and lete hem over slyde.
1596. Spenser, St. Ireland, Wks. (Globe), 627/1. They … through their owne vanitye … doe therupon build … historyes of theyr owne antiquitye.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., I. i. 85. What did this vanity But minister communication of A most poore issue?
1649. Milton, Eikon., B. The intention of this discourse was not fond ambition or the vanity to get a Name.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., I. 310. The vanity of wicked Men is scarcely more conspicuous than in the fond Imaginations they flatter themselves with.
1783. W. Thomson, Watson’s Philip III. (1839), 77. She cannot be vindicated from the imputation of female vanity, and the love of admiration on account of her exterior accomplishments.
1829. Lytton, Devereux, I. i. His vanity was so mingled with good nature that it became graceful.
1881. Lady Herbert, Edith, 7. To the young wife’s vanity and to Mr. Gordon’s pride in his choice.
b. With a and pl.: An instance of this; an occasion for being vain.
1712–4. Pope, Rape Lock, I. 52. Think not, when Woman’s transient breath is fled, That all her vanities at once are dead.
1761. Hume, Hist. Eng., II. xxxi. 203. The nobility and gentry … who placed a vanity in these institutions.
1770. Foote, Lame Lover, I. Wks. 1799, II. 57. To derive a vanity from a misfortune, will not I’m afraid be admitted as a vast instance of wisdom.
c. A thing of which one is vain; also slang, one’s favorite liquor.
1854. Patmore, Angel in Ho., I. II. ix. She was my vanity, and oh All other vanities how vain!
1891. C. James, Rom. Rigmarole, 114. It is advisable to wash it down with a long drink of the reader’s particular vanity.
4. A vain, idle, or worthless thing; a thing or action of no value.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 53. Þat foly luue, þat uanite, þam likes now nan oþer gle.
c. 1340. Hampole, Prose Tr., 5. I satt by mine ane fleeande þe vanytes of þe worlde.
c. 1450. Mankind, 896 (Brandl). Thynke & remembyr, þe world ys but a wanite.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XXI. ix. 855. I had forsaken the vanytees of the world.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Kings xvii. 15. They despysed his ordinaunces … and walked in their awne vanities.
1545. Brinklow, Compl. (1874), 83. Ye shuld turne from these vanitees vnto the liuinge God.
1633. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 76. To run on in their sinful vanities. Ibid. (1658), II. 71. All I find as shee desires it for, is but to spend it uppon her vanities.
1673. Cave, Prim. Chr., II. ii. 33. The sights and sports of the Theatre and such like vanities.
1822. Lamb, Elia, I. Praise Chimney-Sweepers. A convenient spot … at the north side of the fair, not so far distant as to be impervious to the agreeable hubbub of that vanity.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xli. As long as we have a man’s body, we play our Vanities upon it, surrounding it with humbug and ceremonies.
† b. An idle tale or matter; an idea or statement of a worthless or unfounded nature. Obs.
1340. Ayenb., 77. Holy wryt, þet hise clepeþ leazinges … and metinges and uanites.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 184. Many has lykyng trofels to here, And vanites wille blethly lere.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 166. Whanne þou iangelyst in cherch, or thynkest vanytees.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, ix. 108. I knaw me … culpable … In wordis vyle, in vaneteis expreming.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 205. The Frenche men were thought to be authors and forgers of this vanitie.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., 37. They be great southsayers, they haue good dayes and bad dayes,… they doe easily beleeue whatsoeuer vanitie.
1652. Heylyn, Cosmogr., I. 211. Turpin hath … interlaced his Storie with a number of ridiculous vanities.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 391. His Poem the Auracana … begins with this vanity, truely poetical and Romantick Spaniard-like.
† 5. Emptiness, lightness; the state of being void or empty; inanity. Obs. rare.
a. 1400. Stockholm Med. MS., 127. A good oynement for þe vanyte of þe heed.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4774. It was bot vacant & voide, as vanite it were.
1587. Levins, Pathw. Health (1632), 6. For the Vanity of the head Take the iuice of wall-wort,… and therewith annoint the temples.
6. attrib. and Comb., as vanity-giving, -huckster, sight; vanity-bag, -box, -case, a small hand-bag, etc., for ladies, fitted with a mirror and powder-puff.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 166. Sho is not transfigurd … bod vnto þer sightis þat may be begylid with vanyte syght.
1669. Penn, No Cross, Wks. 1782, II. 205. Let such of those Vanity-hucksters as have got sufficient be contented to retreat.
1892. Pall Mall G., 8 Aug., 6/3. Remembering … that enough of our public men do eat of this vanity-giving food.
c. 1904–. Vanity-bag, etc.
7. Vanity Fair (after quot. 1678 below), a place or scene where all is frivolity and empty show; the world or a section of it as a scene of idle amusement and unsubstantial display.
[1678. Bunyan, Pilgr. (1900), 82. The name of that Town is Vanity; and at the town there is a Fair kept, called Vanity-Fair. It … beareth the name of Vanity-Fair, because the Town where ’tis kept is lighter than Vanity.]
1816. J. Scott, Vis. Paris (ed. 5), 137. Such is the Palais Royal;—a vanity fair—a mart of sin and seduction!
1827. Scott, Chron. Canongate, iii. Carrying so many bonny lasses to barter modesty for conceit and levity at the metropolitan Vanity Fair.
1857. Trollope, Barchester T., III. 110. But how preach … at all in such a vanity fair as this now going on at Ullathorne?
1861. Thackeray, Four Georges, 72. Never was such a brilliant, jigging, smirking Vanity Fair as that through which he leads us.
attrib. 1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxv. The last scene of her dismal Vanity Fair comedy was fast approaching. Ibid., xli. Assuming that any Vanity Fair feelings subsist in the sphere whither we are bound.
Hence Vanity-fairian, nonce-wd.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xvii. Even with the most selfish disposition, the Vanity Fairian … can’t but feel some sympathies and regret.
