Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “vanité” come from?

vanité (French) comes from Middle French vanité, from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitas, from Latin vānus, from Italian vano, from Italian vanare, from Romanian -re, from Latin -āre — he, she.

vanité (French): futility, pointlessness; vanity; vanitas

Definitions

  1. futility, pointlessness; vanity; vanitas

Ancestry of “vanité”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchvanitévanity
2Old Frenchvanité—
3Latinvānitas—
4Latinvānus—
5Italianvanovain, useless, idle; quaint; space, opening,...
6ItalianvanareAlternative form of vaneggiare
7Romanian-re-ing, -ation
8Latin-āre—
9Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
10Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
11Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
12Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
13Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “vanité”

  • vaniteux
  • vaniteusement
Every word from Chichewa iye →