vexation
nounEtymology
From Late Middle English vexacioun, vexation (“physical suffering; act of inflicting trouble (specifically through unjustified legal action); anxiety, mental distress; mental disturbance”), from Anglo-Norman vexacion, vexation, Middle French vexacion, vexation (“distress, suffering; harassment (specifically through unjustified legal action)”), and Old French vexacion, vexation (“distress, suffering; harassment”) (modern French vexation), and from their etymon Latin vexātiō (“shaking or similar violent movement; (causing of) agitation, distress, suffering; harassment, persecution; trouble”), from vexātus + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Vexātus is the perfect passive participle of vexō (“to shake or jolt violently; to annoy, harass; to persecute; to trouble violently”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. By surface analysis, vex + -ation (suffix denoting an action or process or its result, or a quality or state). Doublet of quake.
Definitions
The action of vexing, annoying, or irritating someone or something
The action of vexing, annoying, or irritating someone or something; (countable) an instance of this.
- […] I mourne in my prayer, and make a noiſe, / For the voyce of the enemie, & for the vexation of the vvicked, becauſe they haue broght iniquitie vpon me, & furiouſly hate me.
- I ſtill had hopes, my long vexations paſt, / Here to return—and die at home at laſt.
The state of being vexed, annoyed, or irritated
The state of being vexed, annoyed, or irritated; annoyance, irritation; also, disappointment, discontentment, unhappiness; (countable) an instance of this.
- "Indeed you perplex me intolerably;" cried Cecilia, vvith ſome vexation, "VVhy, Sir, vvill you not be more explicit?"
- All was safe and prosperous; and as the removal of one solicitude generally makes way for another, Emma, being now certain of her ball, began to adopt as the next vexation Mr. Knightley's provoking indifference about it.
- […] I spoke of the constant vexation I suffered because I could not draw better.
A source of mental distress or trouble
A source of mental distress or trouble; an affliction, a woe; also, a source of annoyance or irritation; an annoyance, an irritant.
- [S]hould ſhe thus be ſtolne avvay from you, / It vvould be much vexation to your age.
- She did harass Helen to give me up; but, after all, poor woman, I believe I have been a great vexation to her, and I cannot help being sorry for her.
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The action of using force or violence on someone or something
The action of using force or violence on someone or something; (countable) an instance of this.
- 'Tis Princely, vvhen a Tyranne doth oppoſe; / And is a fortune ſent to exerciſe / Your vertue, as the vvind doth try ſtrong trees: / VVho by vexation grovv more ſound, and firme.
- Name the vexations, and the Martyrizations / Of Metalls, in the VVorke.
- Let No Ground be ſovved that is Planted vvith Vines; for the Earth hath enough to do to Attend the Services of That Plant, vvithout the Superfluous Vexations of the Plovv over and above.
The neighborhood
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at vexation. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at vexation. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at vexation
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA