LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

vānus

vānus (feminine vāna, neuter vānum, superlative vānissimus)
Classical[ˈwaː.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈvaː.nus]
№ 856 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivevain, empty, vacant, void
    4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, 2 Paralipomenon 32:15Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand.
  2. adjectiveunsubstantial
  3. adjectivefigurativelygroundless, baseless, meaningless, pointless, worthless, ineffectual, mindless, empty, idle, without foundation
    Ille nihil, nec mē quaerentem vāna morātur, [...].“[About all of] that, [Hector says] nothing, nor does my idle inquiry delay him, ….”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.287
  4. adjectiveostentatious, boastful
  5. adjectivedeceptive, untrustworthy

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

sine rē vērā; verba vāna nihil valent.
vānus -a -um — in Mille Verba, Aula Rēgia
sine rē, falsus
vānus -a -um — in Epistulae, ch. 14

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevānusvānavānum
genitivevānīvānaevānī
dativevānōvānaevānō
accusativevānumvānamvānum
ablativevānōvānāvānō
vocativevānevānavānum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevānīvānaevāna
genitivevānōrumvānārumvānōrum
dativevānīsvānīsvānīs
accusativevānōsvānāsvāna
ablativevānīsvānīsvānīs
vocativevānīvānaevāna

vānus, a, um, adj. etym. dub.; cf. vaco,
I. that contains nothing, empty, void. vacant.
I. Lit. (rare; not in Cic.): sed illos Exspectata seges vanis elusit aristis, Verg. G. 1, 226: leve ac vanum granum, Col. 2, 9, 13: ne vana urbis magnitudo esset, Liv. 1, 8, 5: vanior jam erat hostium acies, id. 2, 47, 4: videtis ordines raros, cornua extenta, mediam aciem vanam et exhaustam, Curt. 4, 14, 14: vanam aciem esse ratus, i. e. thin, weak, id. 4, 14, 8: non vanae redeat sanguis imagini, i. e. to the shade of the dead (so called as being without a body), Hor. C. 1, 24, 15; 3, 27, 41.—
II. Trop., empty as to purport or result, idle, null, groundless, unmeaning, fruitless, vain (freq. and class.): omnes dant consilium vanum, Enn. ap. Front. Ep. 2, 13 (Trag. Rel. v. 419 Vahl.): falsum aut vanum aut fictum (opp. vera), Ter. Eun. 1, 2, 24: oratio, Cic. Lael. 26, 98: vana quaedam atque inania polliceri. id. Planc. 42, 101: vana falsaque, Plin. 30, 2, 5, § 14: res tumida, vana, ventosa, Sen. Ep. 84, 11: orationi vanae crediderunt, idle, delusive, Cic. Rosc. Am. 40, 117: non bellum sed vanam imaginem belli insedisse, Liv. 3, 16, 5: verba, Ov. M. 13, 263: convicia, id. ib. 9, 303: historiae, Quint. 1, 8, 20: argumentum, id. 7, 2, 34: error, Lucr. 1, 1068: agitatio armorum, Liv. 7, 10, 8: metus, Hor. C. 1, 23, 3; Ov. H. 16, 342: gaudia, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 188: spes, Ov. M. 14, 364: ira, Val. Fl. 8, 374; Liv. 1, 10, 4: fides, Verg. A. 4, 12: omen, Ov. M. 2, 597: vox auguris, id. ib. 3, 349: cuspis, id. ib. 8, 346: pila omnia, Liv. 7, 23, 8: pleraque tela, id. 30, 10, 13: ensis, id. 7, 10, 9: ictus, id. 34, 39, 2: promissa, Tac. A. 3, 16: vana et irrita testamenta, Suet. Calig. 38: vaniore dicendi genere inflata (gens), Quint. 12, 10, 17: sententiarum vanissimus strepitus, Petr. 1.—With abl.: postquam equestris pugna effectu quam conatibus vanior erat, Liv. 7, 7, 8: oratio non suis vana laudibus, non crimine alieno laeta, id. 4, 41, 1.—
2. Subst.: vānum, i, n., emptiness, nothingness, naught: ad vanum et irritum redacta victoria, brought to nothing, Liv. 26, 37, 8: nec tota ex vano criminatio erat, i. e. groundless, without cause, id. 33, 31, 4: ex vano habere spem, id. 27, 26, 1: cedit labor in vanum, Sen. Hippol. 182. —Plur.: haud vana adtulere, Liv. 4, 37, 6.—Neutr. plur. adverb.: ut vidit (Arruntem) laetantem animis ac vana tumentem, i. e. vainly, with vain show, Verg. A. 11, 854.—With gen.: corruptus vanis rerum, Hor. S. 2, 2, 25: vana rumoris, Tac. A. 4, 59.—
3. Vanum est, with subject-clause: vanum arbitror esse circa canis ortum angues candidos membranam eam exuere, Plin. 30, 3, 8, § 25.—
B. Transf., of persons, false, lying, deceptive, delusive, untrustworthy: vanus et perfidiosus et impius, false, Cic. Quint. 6, 26: vanus mendaxque, Verg. A. 2, 80: haruspices, Cic. Div. 1, 19, 36: haec mihi non vani (neque erat cur fallere vellent) Narravere senes, i. e. veracious, Ov. M. 8, 721; cf.: ingenium dictatoris, Liv. 1, 27, 1: vane Ligus frustraque animis elate superbis, Verg. A. 11, 715: vir omnium vanissimus, Vell. 2, 30, 1: invidia vulgi vanum ingenium dictatoris corrupit, weak, wavering, Liv. 1, 27, 1: ne irrisus ac vanus iisdem castris assideret, etc., in vain, Tac. H. 2, 22 fin.—With gen.: aut ego (i. e. Juno) veri Vana feror, Verg. A. 10, 631: voti vanus, i. e. deceived, Sil. 12, 261: turba vana sanctitudinis, App. de Deo Socr. p. 43, 1.—
2. Esp., vainglorious, ostentatious, boastful, vain: Cn. Lentulus perincertum stolidior an vanior, Sall. H. 4, 35 Dietsch ad loc.: laudare se vani, vituperare stulti est, Val. Max. 7, 2, ext. 8.—With abl.: hunc ingenio vanum Aetoli inpulerant in spem regni, Liv. 35, 47, 7.—Hence, adv.: vānē, idly, vainly (post-class.): vane gaudere, Tert. Apol. 49: vanius excogitatum, App. Mag. p. 300, 41: praecavere vanissime, Tert. Pud. 1.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁weh₂-
  2. Proto-Italic*wānos
  3. Latinvānus

Inherited from Proto-Italic *wānos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, leave, abandon, give out”). Cognate with Proto-Germanic *wanaz, Sanskrit ऊन (ūná).

Elsewhere
  • Italianvano
  • Romanianvanfrom Italian vano
  • Frenchvainfrom Old French vain
  • Englishvainfrom Old French vain
  • Italianvantarefrom Vulgar Latin vānitāre
  • Frenchvanterfrom Vulgar Latin vānitāre
  • Englishvauntfrom Vulgar Latin vānitāre
  • Romanian*vântafrom Vulgar Latin vānitāre
  • Romanianvântăfrom Vulgar Latin vānitāre
  • Englishvaniloquence
West Iberian
  • Portuguesevãofrom Old Galician-Portuguese vão
  • Spanishvano
  • Galicianvanfrom Old Galician-Portuguese vão
Old Occitan
  • Catalanva

Quick answers

What does vānus mean in Latin?
vānus, a adjective, means “vain, empty, vacant, void; unsubstantial; groundless, baseless, meaningless, pointless, worthless, ineffectual, mindless, empty, idle, without foundation”.
How do you pronounce vānus?
In classical Latin, [ˈwaː.nʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvaː.nus].
Where does vānus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- → Proto-Italic *wānos → Latin vānus.