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Webster 1913 Edition

Envy

En′vy

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Envies
(#)
.
[F.
envie
, L.
invidia
envious; akin to
invidere
to look askance at, to look with enmity;
in
against +
videre
to see. See
Vision
.]
1.
Malice; ill will; spite.
[Obs.]
If he evade us there,
Enforce him with his
envy
to the people.
Shakespeare
2.
Chagrin, mortification, discontent, or uneasiness at the sight of another’s excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and a desire to possess equal advantages; malicious grudging; – usually followed by of;
as, they did this in
envy
of Cæsar
.
Envy
is a repining at the prosperity or good of another, or anger and displeasure at any good of another which we want, or any advantage another hath above us.
Ray.
No bliss
Enjoyed by us excites his
envy
more.
Milton.
Envy
, to which the ignoble mind's a slave,
Is emulation in the learned or brave.
Pope.
3.
Emulation; rivalry.
[Obs.]
Such as cleanliness and decency
Prompt to a virtuous
envy
.
Ford.
4.
Public odium; ill repute.
[Obs.]
To lay the
envy
of the war upon Cicero.
B. Jonson.
5.
An object of envious notice or feeling.
This constitution in former days used to be the
envy
of the world.
Macaulay.

En′vy

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Envied
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Envying
.]
[F.
envier
.]
1.
To feel envy at or towards; to be envious of; to have a feeling of uneasiness or mortification in regard to (any one), arising from the sight of another's excellence or good fortune and a longing to possess it.
A woman does not
envy
a man for his fighting courage, nor a man a woman for her beauty.
Collier.
Whoever
envies
another confesses his superiority.
Rambler.
2.
To feel envy on account of; to have a feeling of grief or repining, with a longing to possess (some excellence or good fortune of another, or an equal good fortune, etc.); to look with grudging upon; to begrudge.
I have seen thee fight,
When I have
envied
thy behavior.
Shakespeare
Jeffrey . . . had actually
envied
his friends their cool mountain breezes.
Froude.
3.
To long after; to desire strongly; to covet.
Or climb his knee the
envied
kiss to share.
T. Gray.
4.
To do harm to; to injure; to disparage.
[Obs.]
If I make a lie
To gain your love and
envy
my best mistress,
Put me against a wall.
J. Fletcher.
5.
To hate.
[Obs.]
Marlowe.
6.
To emulate.
[Obs.]
Spenser.

En′vy

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be filled with envious feelings; to regard anything with grudging and longing eyes; – used especially with at.
Who would
envy
at the prosperity of the wicked?
Jer. Taylor.
2.
To show malice or ill will; to rail.
[Obs.]
“He has . . . envied against the people.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Envy

EN'VY

,
Verb.
T.
[L. invideo, in and video, to see against, that is, to look with enmity.]
1.
To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness enjoyed by another; to repine at another's prosperity; to fret or grieve one's self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that account.
Envy not thou the oppressor. Prov.3.
Whoever envies another, confesses his superiority.
2.
To grudge; to withhold maliciously.
To envy at, used by authors formerly, is now obsolete.
Who would envy at the prosperity of the wicked?

EN'VY

,
Noun.
Pain, uneasiness, mortification or discontent excited by the sight of another's superiority or success, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often or usually with a desire or an effort to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing him depressed. Envy springs from pride, ambition or love, mortified that another has obtained what one has a strong desire to possess.
Envy and admiration are the Scylla and Charybdis of authors.
All human virtue, to its latest breath,
Finds envy never conquered, but by death.
Emulation differs from envy, in not being accompanied with hatred and a desire to depress a more fortunate person.
Envy, to which th' ignoble mind's a slave,
Is emulation in the learn'd or brave.
It is followed by of or to. They did this in envy of Caesar, or in envy to his genius. The former seems to be preferable.
1.
Rivalry; competition. [Little used.]
2.
Malice; malignity.
You turn the good we offer into envy.
3.
Public odium; ill repute; invidiousness.
To discharge the king of the envy of that opinion.

Definition 2024

envy

envy

English

Noun

envy ‎(countable and uncountable, plural envies)

  1. Resentful desire of something possessed by another or others (but not limited to material possessions). [from 13thc.]
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      No bliss enjoyed by us excites his envy more.
    • Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
      Envy, to which the ignoble mind's a slave, / Is emulation in the learned or brave.
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, Nobody, chapter I:
      Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy […] distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.
    • 1983, Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Sophist, p.66:
      Theodorus assures Socrates that no envy will prevent the Stranger from responding
  2. An object of envious notice or feeling.
    • Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859)
      This constitution in former days used to be the envy of the world.
  3. (obsolete) Hatred, enmity, ill-feeling. [14th-18thc.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter lij, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
      Syre said laūcelot vnto Arthur by this crye that ye haue made ye wyll put vs that ben aboute yow in grete Ieopardy / for there be many Knyghtes that haue grete enuye to vs / therfore whan we shal mete at the daye of Iustes there wille be hard skyfte amonge vs
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1:
      But let me tell the World, / If he out-liue the enuie of this day, / England did neuer owe so sweet a hope, / So much misconstrued in his Wantonnesse.
  4. (obsolete) Emulation; rivalry.
    • John Ford (1586-c.1639)
      Such as cleanliness and decency / Prompt to a virtuous envy.
  5. (obsolete) Public odium; ill repute.
    • Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
      to lay the envy of the war upon Cicero

Translations

Verb

envy ‎(third-person singular simple present envies, present participle envying, simple past and past participle envied)

  1. (transitive) To feel displeasure or hatred towards (someone) for their good fortune or possessions. [from 14th c.]
  2. (obsolete, intransitive) To have envious feelings (at). [15th-18th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.3:
      I do not envy at their wealth, titles, offices; […] let me live quiet and at ease.
    • Jeremy Taylor:
      Who would envy at the prosperity of the wicked?
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To give (something) to (someone) grudgingly or reluctantly; to begrudge. [16th-18th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:
      But that sweet Cordiall, which can restore / A loue-sick hart, she did to him enuy […].
  4. (obsolete) To show malice or ill will; to rail.
    • Shakespeare:
    He has […] envied against the people.
  5. (obsolete) To do harm to; to injure; to disparage.
    • J. Fletcher
      If I make a lie / To gain your love and envy my best mistress, / Put me against a wall.
  6. (obsolete) To hate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Marlowe to this entry?)
  7. (obsolete) To emulate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Translations

Related terms

Etymology

From Middle English envie, from Old French envie, from Latin invidia ‎(“envy”), from invidere ‎(“to look at with malice”) from in + videre ("on, upon" + "to look, see"). Displaced native Middle English ande, onde ‎(“envy”) (from Old English anda, onda ‎(“breath, emotion, envy, hatred, grudge, dislike”)), Middle English nithe, nith ‎(“envy, malice”) (from Old English nīþ ‎(“envy, hatred, malice, spite, jealousy”)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɛnvi/

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