Added 9 October 2026
envy
/ˈɛnvi/ noun
In Latin: invidia Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about envy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another.
- Spite and resentment at seeing the success of another (personified as one of the deadly sins).
verb
Origin
From Middle English envie, from Old French envie, from Latin invidia (“envy”), from invidere (“to look at with malice”), from in- (“on, upon”) + videre (“to look, see”). Doublet of envie. Cognate to Proto-Slavic *zavistь (“envy”). Displaced native Old English æfest and Old English nīþ.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)