[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
First coined 1382, Old French jalous, from Late Latin zelosus, from Ancient Greek ζήλος (zēlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from ζηλόω (zēloō, “to emulate, to be jealous”). Cognate to zeal.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
jealous (comparative more jealous, superlative most jealous)
- Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover or spouse's fidelity. [from 13th c.]
- Protective, zealously guarding, careful in the protection of something one has or appreciates. [from 14th c.]
- Envious; feeling resentful of someone for a perceived advantage, material or otherwise. [from 14th c.]
- 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
- I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die.
- 1899, Mark Twain, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
- The neighbouring towns were jealous of this honourable supremacy
[edit] Usage notes
Some usage guides seek to distinguish "jealous" from “envious”, using jealous to mean “protective of one’s own position or possessions” – one “jealously guards what one has” – and envious to mean “desirous of others’ position or possessions” – one “envies what others have”. [1] This distinction is also maintained in the psychological and philosophical literature.[2][3] However, this distinction is not reflected in usage, as reflected in the quotations of famous authors (above) using the word jealous in the sense “envious (of the possessions of others)”.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
bitterly or enviously competitive
fearful of being replaced, in position or in affection
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Translations to be checked
[edit] References
- ^ “Envious/Jealous”, Paul Brians, Common Errors in English Usage
- ^ See Jealousy: Comparison with envy and Envy: Envy, jealousy and schadenfreude
- ^ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Envy, 1.2 Envy vs. Jealousy
[edit] Anagrams
