envie

See also: envié, envíe, and en vie

English

Etymology 1

From en- +‎ vie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvaɪ/, /ɛnˈvaɪ/

Verb

envie (third-person singular simple present envies, present participle envying, simple past and past participle envied)

1. (obsolete) To vie; to emulate; to strive.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     In which all pleasures plenteously abownd,
     And none does others happinesse envye

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French envie (“urge, craving”). Doublet of envy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑːnˈviː/

Noun

envie (plural envies)

1. (US, chiefly Louisiana) A strong desire or craving, especially for (a particular kind of) food.
   • 2009, Shane Hebert, The Ballad of Corey Robichaux, self-published, page 27:

     "Oooo, yum." Linda licked her lips. "I had an envie for that." An envie is an urge. She walked to the oven, opened it, and looked in.

   • 2018, Mark Vaughan, The Beacon 2: Battle of Nuclear Creek, self-published, unnumbered page,

     "I had an envie for something sweet so picked up King cakes for dessert. Bit of a lagniappe too, she gave us a dozen not ten."

   • 2020, Morris Ardoin, Stone Motel: Memoirs of a Cajun Boy, University Press of Mississippi, unnumbered page:

     "Sorry about that," he said to the man. "I'm by myself here these days. I had an envie for some Popeye's fried chicken, and dammit if you can't get that kinda thing off your mind until you just get up and go get it."

References

• “envie”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• nieve

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French enveie (with /ei̯/ modified to /i/ to match the verb envier), from Latin invidia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.vi/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Homophones: envient, envies

Noun

envie f (plural envies)

1. desire, lust, urge
2. appetite, craving
3. envy

   Synonym: convoitise

4. birthmark

   Synonyms: tache de naissance, tache de vin

5. hangnail

   Synonym: petite peau

Verb

envie

1. inflection of envier:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Derived terms

• avoir envie
• avoir envie de
• envier

 

Related terms

• envieux

Further reading

• “envie”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “ĭnvĭdĭa”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 4: G H I, page 799

Anagrams

• veine, veiné

Galician

Verb

envie

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of enviar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Louisiana Creole

Etymology

From French envie (“desire”).

Verb

envie

1. to desire

References

• Alcée Fortier, Louisiana Folktales

Middle English

Alternative forms

• anvie, envi, envy, envye, invie

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French envie, from Latin invidia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛnˈviː(ə)/, /ˈɛnviː(ə)/

Noun

envie (plural envies)

1. ill-will, hatred, enmity, hostility; spite, malice; an instance of enmity

   Synonym: onde

   • 1378, John of Trevisa, transl., Polychronicon‎^[1], translation of original by Ranulf Higden, published 1876, page 287:

     ȝit þey haveþ so grete envie to þe Latyns þat þey haveþ wiþ drawe hem out of [þe] subieccioun and obedience of þe chirche of Rome

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. envy, grudge; hostility; an instance of this feeling

   Synonym: onde

3. harm, injury

   Synonyms: harm, injurie

4. eagerness, enthusiasm

Related terms

• envien
• envious

Descendants

• English: envy

References

• “envīe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Portuguese

Verb

envie

1. inflection of enviar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative