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Idleness

//ˈaɪdəlnəs// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being idle; inactivity. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    having no employment wordnet
  3. 3
    The state of being indolent; indolence. countable, uncountable

    "For either they be puffed vp vvith pride, / Or fraught vvith enuie that their galls do ſvvell, / Or they their dayes to ydleneſſe diuide, / Or drovvnded lie in pleaſures vvaſtefull vvell, / In vvhich like Moldvvarps [i.e., moles] nouſling ſtill they lurke, / Vnmyndfull of chiefe parts of manlineſſe, / And do themſelues for vvant of other vvorke, / Vaine votaries of laeſie loue profeſſe, […]"

  4. 4
    the trait of being idle out of a reluctance to work wordnet
  5. 5
    Groundlessness; worthlessness; triviality; vanity; frivolity. countable, uncountable
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  1. 6
    the quality of lacking substance or value wordnet

Etymology

From Middle English ydelnesse, from Old English īdelnes, from Proto-West Germanic *īdalnassī, equivalent to idle + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian īdelnisse (“idelness”), obsolete Dutch ijdelnis, Old Saxon īdalnussi (“idleness, vanity”), Old High German ītalnissa (“idleness, vanity, emptiness”).

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