different between jealous vs envous

English

Etymology

[1382] From Middle English jelous, gelous, gelus, from Old French jalous, from Late Latin zelosus, from Ancient Greek ????? (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”). Doublet of zealous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d??l?s/
• Hyphenation: jeal?ous
• Rhymes: -?l?s

Adjective

jealous (comparative jealouser or more jealous, superlative jealousest or most jealous)

1. Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity. [from 13th c.]
2. Protective, zealously guarding, careful in the protection of something one has or appreciates. [from 14th c.]

   For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jehovah, is a jealous God. —Exodus 34:14 (NET)

3. Envious; feeling resentful or angered toward someone for a perceived advantage or success, material or otherwise. [from 14th c.]
4. Suspecting, suspicious.

Usage notes

Some usage guides seek to distinguish "jealous" from “envious”, using jealous to mean “protective of one’s own position or possessions” – one “jealously guards what one has” – and envious to mean “desirous of others’ position or possessions” – one “envies what others have”. This distinction is also maintained in the psychological and philosophical literature. However, this distinction is not always reflected in usage, as reflected in the quotations of famous authors (above) using the word jealous in the sense “envious (of the possessions of others)”.

Derived terms

• jealous-like adjective
• jealously adverb
• jealousy noun
• jealousness noun

Related terms

• zeal
• zealot
• zealous

Translations

References

Anagrams

• jalouse