in vain

English

Adverb

in vain (comparative more in vain, superlative most in vain)

1. (idiomatic) Without success; ending in failure.
   • 1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, based on the signed "Bliss Copy"

     we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain

   • 19C, Friedrich Nietzsche

     On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain

2. (idiomatic) In a disrespectful manner, especially when concerning religion.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version)^[1], Exodus 20:7

     Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain

Translations

without success

Arabic: عبثًا (ar) (3ábathan) Catalan: en va (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 徒然 (cmn) (túrán), 白白 (cmn) (báibái), 無益 (cmn), 无益 (cmn) (wúyì) Croatian: ȕzalūd (hr), ȕzalūdno (hr) Czech: neúspěšně (cs) Dutch: tevergeefs (nl), vergeefs (nl) Esperanto: sensolve (eo), vane (eo) Finnish: turhaan (fi) French: en vain (fr) German: vergebens (de) Greek: μάταια (el) (mátaia), του κάκου (el) (tou kákou), εις μάτην (el) (eis mátin), επί ματαίω (el) (epi mataio)

Hungarian: hiába (hu) Icelandic: til einskis (is); árangurslaus (is) m. and f., árangurslaust (is) n.; unnið fyrir gýg (is) Italian: invano (it) Japanese: 無益の (ja) (むえきの, mueki-no) Korean: 헛되이 (ko) (heotdoe-i) Kurdish: باداوه‌ (ku) (badawe) Latin: in cassum (la), futtile (la), frustrā (la) Navajo: chʼééh Norwegian: forgjeves (no) Portuguese: em vão (pt), inutilmente (pt) Russian: напрасно (ru) (naprásno), зря (ru) (zrja), даром (ru) (dárom), тщетно (ru) (tščétno), впустую (ru) (vpustúju), всуе (ru) (vsúje) Spanish: en vano (es), en balde (es), inútilmente (es) Swedish: förgäves (sv)

disrespectful manner

Greek: Ancient: ἐπὶ ματαίῳ

Icelandic: í hégóma Italian: invano (it) m.