different between bootless vs vain

English

Etymology 1

From boot +? -less.

Adjective

bootless (not comparable)

1. Without boots.

Etymology 2

From Middle English boteles, botles, from Old English b?tl?as; equivalent to boot (“profit; use; behoof”) +? -less. Doublet of botleas.

Alternative forms

• boteless

Adjective

bootless (comparative more bootless, superlative most bootless)

1. Profitless; pointless; unavailing.
   • 1592–1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXIX:

     When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, / I all alone beweep my outcast state / And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries

Synonyms

• fruitless

Derived terms

• bootlessly
• bootlessness

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• wayn (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English veyn, from Old French vain, from Latin v?nus (“empty”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: v?n, IPA^(key): /ve?n/
• Homophones: vane, vein
• Rhymes: -e?n

Adjective

vain (comparative vainer or more vain, superlative vainest or most vain)

1. Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
   • 1959, Leo Rosten, The return of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N

     Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.

2. Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
   • Let no man deceive you with vain words.
3. Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.

   • Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
4. Showy; ostentatious.

Synonyms

• (overly proud of oneself): conceited; puffed up; inflated
• (pointless): pointless, futile, fruitless, ineffectual
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant
• See also Thesaurus:futile

Derived terms

• in vain
• vainness
• vainly

Related terms

• vanity

Translations

Further reading

• vain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• vain at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Ivan, Na'vi, Vani, Vina, Viña, vina

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• ven

Etymology

From Latin v?num. Compare Istriot veîn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e?/

Noun

vain m

1. wine

Finnish

Alternative forms

• vaan (colloquial, all senses; also has other non-colloquial meanings)

Etymology

Probably an old instructive plural of vajaa. Cognate with Estonian vaid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???i?n/, [???i?n]
• Rhymes: -?in
• Syllabification: vain

Adverb

vain

1. only, merely, exclusively, solely, just
2. ever (when used with an interrogative pronoun)

   mikä vain, milloin vain (“whenever”)

   Synonym: tahansa

3. An emphatic word used with the negative verb and -kö.

4. (with a verb in imperative) go ahead, be my guest

   Synonyms: sen kuin, sen kun

Derived terms

• kuka vain
• mikä vain

Anagrams

• inva-, ivan, niva, vian

French

Etymology

From Old French vain, from Latin v?nus, from Proto-Indo-European *h?weh?- (“empty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v??/
• Homophones: vainc, vaincs, vains, vin, vingt, vingts, vins, vint, vînt

Adjective

vain (feminine singular vaine, masculine plural vains, feminine plural vaines)

1. useless, ineffective, fruitless
2. vain, shallow

Synonyms

• inutile

Derived terms

• en vain

Related terms

• vanité
• vaniteux

Further reading

• “vain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Norman

Etymology

From Old French vain, from Latin v?nus (“empty”).

Adjective

vain m

1. (Jersey) vain

Derived terms

• vainement (“vainly”)