Forms: 4–5 langur(e, langoure, 4–6 langor(e, 4, 6, 8 languour, (6 Sc. lengre), 4–7 (8–9) langour, 4– languor. [a. OF. languor, lango(u)r (mod.F. langueur), ad. L. languōr-em, f. langu-ēre: see LANGUISH v. Cf. Pr. languor-s, Sp., Pg. langor, It. languore of the same meaning; Roumanian lăngoare ‘nervous fever.’]
† 1. Disease, sickness, illness. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3596. Sua has eild now þis ysaac ledd Þat he in langur lijs in bedd. Ibid., 14179. To ded sal noght his langur turn.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 16675. In langour lay he many a day, & deyde þe twelfte kalende of May.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XIX. 142. He lechede hem of here langoure lazars and blynde bothe.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1853. In hele and in langoure.
1544. Phaër, Pestilence (1553), K iv b. [He] curethe … all theyre gryeuous soores, languoures and dyseases.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. vii. 16. From thenceforth a wretched life they ladd, In wilfull languor and consuming smart.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., 86 a. Hee will … heale euery disease and languor amongst you.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., 9. Gif they … verifies in the court, the infirmitie to be ane langour (or ane vehement seiknes of bodie or of minde).
[a. 1850. Rossetti, Dante & Circle, I. (1874), 136. Over the curse of blindness she prevails, And heals sick languors in the public squares.]
† 2. Distressed condition, sad case, woeful plight. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4499. Bot ioseph in þat prisun lai, Wit langor lengand and with care.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIV. 117. Beggeres … That ad her lyf han lyued in langour and in defaute.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Monk’s T., 417. Off the Erl Hugelyn of Pyze the langour Ther may no tonge telle for pitee.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Grail, xxxvii. 606. Ȝif it so be that I from ȝow go, Neuere geten ȝe helpe ne Socour ȝow to bryngen owt of this langour.
1462. Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 267. In whos tyme ther was habundaunce with plentee of welthe and erthely joye, withouȝt langoure.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, I. 68. And how this lyfe is of no suerte Now in great languor now in prosperyte.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. iii. 35. Whiles thus thy Britons doe in languour pine.
† 3. Mental suffering or distress, pining, sorrow, affliction of spirit. To make languor: to mourn, make lament. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 24603. Mi sorful scurs Þat þai sagh ledd wit sli langurs.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 986. His liif nel nouȝt for langour last til to-morwe.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 649. [He] hath swich langour in soule, that he may neither rede ne singe in hooly chirche.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 3769. In whas absence alwaye sho brent in swilk langoure.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 270. For dreid thar of in gret languor he grew.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, X. viii. There he made grete langour and dole.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 58 b/1. I shal not brynge none of the langours no sorowes upon the.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., III. i. 13. My harts deepe languor, and my soules sad teares.
1593. T. Watson, Tears Fancie, iii. Poems (Arb.), 180. That she would worke my dollor, And by her meanes procure my endles langor.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, II. xxii. § 5 (1634), 465. The text … saith, they exercised upon Joas ignominious judgements and that departing from him, they dismissed him in great languor.
b. Sc. [? associated with lang, LONG a. and v.] † (a) Longing for some object (obs.). (b) Ennui. To hold out of langer: to amuse.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., X. 457. To recreat the quene and hald her out of Langre.
1616. Rollock, On the Passion, 383. If thou hast not a desire, but art afraid to flit, it is a token that thou hast no langour of God.
4. Faintness, weariness, lassitude, fatigue (of the body or faculties).
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Languor, faintness, feebleness, want of spirit.
1707. Floyer, Physic. Pulse-Watch, 34. Great Evacuations produces Languor of Spirits.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 90, ¶ 2. That can hardly fail to relieve the languors of attention.
1762. Goldsm., Cit. W., xliv. All the senses seem so combined, as to be soon tired into languor by the gratification of any one of them.
1789. W. Buchan, Dom. Med. (1790), 141. When the fever comes on gradually, the patient generally complains first of languor or listlessness.
1818. Mrs. Shelley, Frankenst., iv. (1865), 68. I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.
1874. Blackie, Self-Cult., 50. The feverishness and the languor that are the necessary consequences of prolonged artificial wakefulness.
1878. C. Stanford, Symb. Christ, i. 31. In the midst of the languor or pains of death.
b. Expression or indication of lassitude, in the voice, features, etc.
1760–72. trans. Juan & Ulloa’s Voy. (ed. 3), I. 122. Here their pronunciation has a faintness and languor.
1783. Pott, Chirurg., Wks., II. 92. The eyes have now a languor and glassiness.
c. Habitual lassitude and inertia in one’s movements and behavior, want of energy and alertness (whether as a natural quality or an affectation).
1825. Lytton, Falkland, 30. There was spread over his countenance an expression of mingled energy and languor.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xvi. She now opened her eyes, and seemed quite to forget her languor.
1863. Mrs. Oliphant, Salem Chapel, x. 171. That stick over which his tall person swayed with fashionable languor.
d. Tenderness or softness (of mood, feeling, etc.); lassitude of spirit caused by sorrow, amorous longing, or the like. Said also of a melody.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 94, ¶ 2. The same languor of melody will suit an absent lover.
1791. Mrs. Radcliffe, Rom. Forest, i. The languor of sorrow threw a melancholy grace upon her features.
1792. S. Rogers, Pleas. Mem., II. 170. A softer tone of light pervades the whole And steals a pensive languor o’er the soul.
1819. Byron, Juan, I. cxiv. The silver light … Breathes also to the heart, and o’er it throws A loving languor, which is not repose.
1832. Tennyson, Eleänore, 77. Whene’er The languors of thy love-deep eyes Float on to me.
1865. Swinburne, Poems & Ball., Dolores, 67. The lilies and languors of virtue.
5. Of immaterial things: Depressed or drooping condition, want of activity or interest; slackness, dullness.
a. 1748. Watts, Improv. Mind, I. xiii. (1868), 114. Academical disputation … relieves the languor of private study and meditation.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 153, ¶ 18. I had formerly been celebrated as a wit, and not perceiving any languor in my imagination, I essayed to revive that gaiety.
1752. Hume, Ess. & Treat. (1777), I. 348. The arts must fall into a state of languor, and lose emulation and novelty.
1769. Burke, Late St. Nat., Wks. 1842, I. 89. Possibly some parts of the kingdom may have felt something like a languor in business.
1786. W. Thomson, Philip III., v. 329. A place … where she would be freed from the languor of her present solitude. Ibid., 353. Since that time, it [that monarchy] had exhibited a striking token of improvidence and langour. Ibid., 402. A manifest langour and irresolution appeared in her [Spain’s] counsels.
1838. Thirlwall, Greece, III. xxii. 218. Athens discovered none of the langour of recent convalescence.
1895. Daily News, 18 June, 2/6. Extreme languor now characterizes the trade for field seeds.
b. Of the air, sky, etc.: Heaviness, absence of life and motion, oppressive stillness.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 442. When the sun Shakes from his noonday throne the scattering clouds, Even shooting listless languor thro’ the deeps.
1742. Pope, Dunc., IV. 304. Lily-silver’d vales, Diffusing languor in the panting gales.
1762. Falconer, Shipwr., I. 332. A sullen languour still the skies opprest, And held th’ unwilling ship in strong arrest.
1772–84. Cook, Voy. (1790), IV. 1245. The sky became serene; but with a haziness and languor, as if the current of air, like water upon an equipoise, moved only by its own impulse.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls., II. 220. The languor of Rome,—its weary pavements, its little life.
