in vain
English
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Anglo-Norman en vain?”)
Pronunciation
Audio (AU): (file)
Adverb
in vain (comparative more in vain, superlative most in vain)
- (idiomatic) Without success or a result; ending in failure.
- 1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)[1], near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 2:
- […] that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain […]
- 19th c., Friedrich Nietzsche
- On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain.
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- 1960 March, J. P. Wilson & E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak: Derby to Manchester. Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 149:
- All these great plans were in vain, however, for in the cold dawn following the "Mania" years of 1845–46 the M.B.M. & M.J.R. project was truncated to an 11 1⁄2-mile line from Ambergate to Rowsley.
- (idiomatic) In a disrespectful manner, especially when concerning religion. (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
- Template:RQ:Authorized Version
- 2015, Kent Gramm, The Prayer of Jesus: A Reading of the Lord’s Prayer, page 69:
- This petition is the reverse side of the commandment against taking God's name in vain.
- 2015, Jimmy R. Watson, Big Jesus: A Pastor’s Struggle with Christology, page 119:
- McLaren's task, it seems, is to set Jesus in a more appropriate and biblical context so that we won't use his name “in vain.”
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
without success
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disrespectful manner
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Adjective
in vain (comparative more in vain, superlative most in vain)
- (idiomatic) Unsuccessful, failed.
- Their efforts were in vain and he succumbed to his injuries.
- 2012, N.H. Pijls, Maximal Myocardial Perfusion as a Measure of the Functional Significance of Coronary Artery Disease[2]:
- The problems concerning contrast induced hyperemia and the in vain efforts to search for a contrast agent not influencing flow […]