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languor

noun
/ˈlæŋɡə/UK/ˈlæŋɡɚ/US/ˈleɪ̯ŋɡɚ/

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English langore, langour (“disease, illness; misery, sadness; suffering; condition or event causing sadness, suffering, etc.; unwholesomeness; idleness, inertia; depression, self-disgust; expression of grief”) [and other forms], from Middle French languer, langueur, langour, and Anglo-Norman langor, langour, langur, Old French langueur, languour (“disease, illness; suffering; emotional fatigue, sadness; listlessness; stagnation”) (modern French langueur (“languor”)), and from their etymon Latin languor (“faintness, feebleness; languor; apathy”), from languēre, the present active infinitive of langueō (“to feel faint or weak; (figurative) to be idle, inactive; to be listless”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-, *(s)leh₁g-. The English word is cognate with Catalan llangor, Italian languore (“faintness, weakness; languor”), langore (obsolete), Old Occitan langor (modern Occitan langor), Portuguese langor, languor (obsolete), Spanish langor.

  1. derived from *(s)leg-✻
  2. derived from languor — “faintness, feebleness; languor; apathy”
  3. derived from langueur
  4. derived from langor
  5. derived from languer
  6. inherited from langore

Definitions

  1. A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a…

    A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a languid or weary feeling; lassitude; (countable) an instance of this.

    • languor of convalescence
    • Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly, that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.
    • As the opinion announcements have stretched past the half-hour mark, some in the public gallery exhibit a bit of languor, but they perk up when [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena] Kagan begins discussing western gray squirrels.

  2. Melancholy caused by lovesickness, sadness, etc.

    Melancholy caused by lovesickness, sadness, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.

  3. Dullness, sluggishness

    Dullness, sluggishness; lack of vigour; stagnation.

    • I rushed towards her, and embraced her with ardour; but the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished.
    • From languor she passed to the lightest vivacity; her temper became merry and wild in the extreme; she was all at once a tease, a tomboy, and a witch.
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. Listless indolence or inactivity, especially if enjoyable or relaxing

      Listless indolence or inactivity, especially if enjoyable or relaxing; dreaminess; (countable) an instance of this.

      • Repose! The very word has a nostalgic ring to it, conjuring up a vanished world of pale solitude, gentle distances, summer vistas, languour, and lovely women …

    2. Heavy humidity and stillness of the air.

      • There is a languor in the air which encourages your own, and the poetry of memory is in every drooping flower and falling leaf.
      • [A] certain languor in the air hinted at an early summer.
      • The evening was mild, with a certain languor in the air.

    3. Sorrow

      Sorrow; suffering; also, enfeebling disease or illness; (countable, obsolete) an instance of this.

    4. To languish.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for languor. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA