envy

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English envie, from Old French envie, from Latin invidia (“envy”), from invidere (“to look at with malice”) from in + videre ("on, upon" + "to look, see").

Displaced native Middle English ande, onde (“envy”) (from Old English anda, onda (“breath, emotion, envy, hatred, grudge, dislike”)), Middle English nithe, nith (“envy, hatred, malice”) (from Old English nīþ (“envy, hatred, malice, spite, jealousy”)).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɛnvi/
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Noun[edit]

envy (countable and uncountable, plural envies)

  1. Resentful desire of something possessed by another or others (but not limited to material possessions). [from 13thc.]
  2. An object of envious notice or feeling.
    • 1843, Thomas Macaulay, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays, Carey & Hart, page 277:
      This constitution in former days used to be the envy of the world[.]
    • 2008, Lich King, "Black Metal Sucks", Toxic Zombie Onslaught.
      Blacke Foryst of Despayr, taking photos of the band / Put 'em up on myspace you're the envy of the land
  3. (obsolete) Hatred, enmity, ill-feeling. [14th-18thc.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter lij, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
      Syre said laūcelot vnto Arthur by this crye that ye haue made ye wyll put vs that ben aboute yow in grete Ieopardy / for there be many Knyghtes that haue grete enuye to vs / therfore whan we shal mete at the daye of Iustes there wille be hard skyfte amonge vs
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1:
      But let me tell the World, / If he out-liue the enuie of this day, / England did neuer owe so sweet a hope, / So much misconstrued in his Wantonnesse.
  4. (obsolete) Emulation; rivalry.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Ford
      Such as cleanliness and decency / Prompt to a virtuous envy.
  5. (obsolete) Public odium; ill repute.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Ben Jonson
      to lay the envy of the war upon Cicero

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (transitive) To feel displeasure or hatred towards (someone) for their good fortune or possessions. [from 14th c.]
  2. (obsolete, intransitive) To have envious feelings (at). [15th-18th c.]
    • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, partition II, section 3, member 3:
      I do not envy at their wealth, titles, offices; […] let me live quiet and at ease.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Jeremy Taylor
      Who would envy at the prosperity of the wicked?
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To give (something) to (someone) grudgingly or reluctantly; to begrudge. [16th-18th c.]
  4. (obsolete) To show malice or ill will; to rail.
    He has […] envied against the people.
  5. (obsolete) To do harm to; to injure; to disparage.
    • (Can we date this quote?) J. Fletcher
      If I make a lie / To gain your love and envy my best mistress, / Put me against a wall.
  6. (obsolete) To hate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Marlowe to this entry?)
  7. (obsolete) To emulate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

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