English → Latin
“vanity” in Latin
inānitāsemptiness, empty space; uselessness, inanityvānitāsemptiness, nothingness; falsity, falsehood, deception, untruth, untrustworthiness, fickleness; vanity, vaingloryfragilitāsbrittleness, fragility; weakness, frailnessinānisempty, void, hollow; vain; purposeless, meaningless, worthless, useless, fruitless, empty, idlevānĭtĭesemptinesspereōto perish, pass away, die, be ruined; to vanish, disappear, come to nothing; to leak; to be absorbedambitiōA going around or about; that which surrounds.; A desire for one's favor or good will; excessive desire to please, flattglōriaglory, renown, fame, honortumorthe state of being swollen; swelling; tumor; the swell of the seaostentātiōexhibition, display, showing off
The English word vanity itself goes back to Latin vānus, through vānitas.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
vanity
Emptiness, transitory nature, inanitas: vanitas: fragilitas.
A vain thing, res vana, inanis: vanities of the world, res caducae, periturae.
Love of vain things, *rerum vanarum studium: ambitio (ambition).
Vain-glory, gloria (falsa et inanis; Cic.): vanitas (Tac.): tumor (post-Augustan, poetry) [Vid: also, VAIN-GLORY].
Ostentation, ostentatio: jactantia: venditatio.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for vanity?
- The usual Latin words for “vanity” are inānitās, vānitās, fragilitās; also inānis, vānĭtĭes, pereō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.