different between vexation vs spleen

English

Etymology

From Middle English vexacioun, from Old French vexacion, from Latin vex?ti?; synchronically analyzable as vex +? -ation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?k?se???n/
• Hyphenation: vex?a?tion

Noun

vexation (countable and uncountable, plural vexations)

1. The act of annoying, vexing, or irritating.
2. The state of being vexed or irritated.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 55

     He gave the doctor a look of vexation. He was surprised to see him, and resented the intrusion.

Related terms

• vex
• vexed
• vexing
• vexatious

Translations

Anagrams

• vanoxite

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?k.sa.sj??/

Noun

vexation f (plural vexations)

1. insult
2. humiliation
3. harassment

Related terms

• vexant
• vexatoire
• vexer

Further reading

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

Middle English

Noun

vexation

1. Alternative form of vexacioun

English

Etymology

From Middle English splene, splen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman espleen and Old French esplein, esplen, from Latin spl?n (“milt”), from Ancient Greek ????? (spl?n, “the spleen”). Doublet of lien. Partially displaced the native English term milt.

Pronunciation

• enPR: spl?n, IPA^(key): /spli?n/
• Rhymes: -i?n

Noun

spleen (countable and uncountable, plural spleens)

1. (anatomy, immunology) In vertebrates, including humans, a ductless vascular gland, located in the left upper abdomen near the stomach, which destroys old red blood cells, removes debris from the bloodstream, acts as a reservoir of blood, and produces lymphocytes.
2. (archaic, except in the set phrase "to vent one's spleen") A bad mood; spitefulness.
3. (obsolete, rare) A sudden motion or action; a fit; a freak; a whim.

   • Brief as the lightning in the collied night; That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and Earth

4. (obsolete) Melancholy; hypochondriacal affections.
   • 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion

     There is a luxury in self-dispraise: / And inward self-disparagement affords / To meditative spleen a grateful feast.

5. A fit of immoderate laughter or merriment.

Synonyms

• milt (now chiefly of animals); lien (uncommon)

Derived terms

Related terms

• splenomegaly

Descendants

• ? French: spleen
• ? German: Spleen

Translations

Verb

spleen (third-person singular simple present spleens, present participle spleening, simple past and past participle spleened)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To dislike.

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

Anagrams

• pensel, plenes

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English spleen in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /splin/

Noun

spleen m (plural spleens)

1. bad mood, melancholy

Synonyms

• bourdon, cafard, dépression, ennui, hypocondrie, langueur, neurasthénie

Further reading

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