different between idle vs idyll

English

Etymology

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English ?del, from Proto-Germanic *?dalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”), German eitel (“vain, conceited”), and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ??d(?)l, IPA^(key): /?a?d(?)l/
• Rhymes: -a?d?l
• Homophones: idol, idyll, idyl (US pronunciation)

Adjective

idle (comparative more idle, superlative most idle)

1. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
2. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
3. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
4. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

   • “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”

5. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

6. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ford to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (of no importance): pointless
• See also Thesaurus:lazy

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

idle (third-person singular simple present idles, present participle idling, simple past and past participle idled)

1. (transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
2. (intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

   to idle in an IRC channel

   • 1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)

     He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]

3. (intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

Derived terms

• idler

Related terms

• (sense 3) idling speed

Translations

Noun

idle (plural idles)

1. The state of idling, of being idle.
2. (gaming) An idle animation.
3. (gaming) An idle game.

   Synonyms: idle game, incremental game

References

• idle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• idle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• idle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Diel, deli, diel, eild, lied

English

Alternative forms

• idyl

Etymology

From Latin ?dyllium, from Ancient Greek ????????? (eidúllion), from diminutive of ????? (eîdos, “form, shape”).

Pronunciation

• (UK): IPA^(key): /??d?l/, /??d?l/
• Rhymes: -?d?l, -?d?l
• (US): enPR: ??d?l, IPA^(key): /?a?d?l/, /?a?d?l/
• Rhymes: -a?d?l
• Homophones: idle, idol (US)

Noun

idyll (plural idylls)

1. Any poem or short written piece composed in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls.
2. An episode or series of events or circumstances of pastoral or rural simplicity, fit for an idyll; a carefree or lighthearted experience.
3. (music) A composition, usually instrumental, of a pastoral or sentimental character, e.g. Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner.

Related terms

• idyllic
• idyllical
• idyllically
• idyllist, idylist

Translations

See also

• idyll on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

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

Anagrams

• Dilly, dilly

Swedish

Etymology

Cognate with Danish idyl, English idyll and German idyll, used since 1781.

Noun

idyll c

1. an idyll (a poem)
2. a place free of distress

Declension

Related terms

• idylldiktning
• idylliker
• idyllisera
• idyllisering
• idyllisk
• sörgårdsidyll

References

• idyll in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• idyll in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)