taedium vitae

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See also: tædium vitæ

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin taedium (boredom) + vītae (of life).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌtiːdiəm ˈviːtʌɪ/

Noun

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taedium vitae (uncountable)

  1. Profound ennui or weariness of one's life.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: [], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: [] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, page 390:
      Hence it proceeds many times that they are weary of their lives, and feral thoughts to offer violence to their own persons come into their minds; tædium vitæ is a common symptom  []
    • 1922, Isaac Goldberg, Brazilian Literature, New York: A.A. Knopf, page 154:
      He was haunted, it seems, by the symbol of a Prometheus wearied of his immortality of anguish,— by the tedium vitae.
    • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:
      From time to time one of Georges' numerous girls strays into my net by calling at the flat when he is not there, and the incident serves for a while to sharpen my taedium vitae.
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Further reading

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