力氣落空：徒勞
這一族把「空」放在結果那一端：事情做了，位置卻是空的。
in vain (without success) · adjective · C2
Used in the phrase in vain: you tried hard, but you still did not get the result you wanted.
徒勞
核心畫面
One way to picture it: something that looks like it has substance but is actually empty inside — you reach in and grab nothing. Latin vā means 'empty', and every use of vain is some version of that hollowness: effort with nothing at the end, a threat with nothing behind it, a person up over nothing much.
「裡面是空的」。拉丁文 vānus 就是「空」。想像一個看起來鼓鼓的袋子，你伸手進去卻什麼也摸不到——外面有形狀、有…更多收起
「裡面是空的」。拉丁文 vānus 就是「空」。想像一個看起來鼓鼓的袋子，你伸手進去卻什麼也摸不到——外面有形狀、有樣子，裡面卻沒有東西。vain 的每一種用法都是這個空殼的變化：力氣花下去、結果沒有；話說得很兇、後面沒有真本事；人把自己撐得很高、底下其實沒什麼。抓住「有樣子、沒內容」這個感覺，五個意思就會連成一條線。From the word’s history
From Middle English veyn, from Old French vain, from Latin vānus ("empty, void"). The modern senses are all still readings of 'empty': empty of result, empty of substance, empty of real content behind the pride.
vain 從中古英語 veyn、古法語 vain 來，源頭是拉丁文 vānus，意思就是「空的」。這個「空」一直沒有離開過：徒勞是「結果是空的」，空洞的威脅是「後面是空的」，虛榮是「得意的內容其實是空的」。知道字根是「空」之後，in vain 這個片語就不必硬背——它字面上就是「在空裡」，力氣落在一個沒有東西的地方。
Wiktionary, "vain" (etymology: Middle English veyn < Old French vain < Latin vānus "empty")
Three branches
話裡沒東西：空洞
這一族把「空」放進名詞前面當形容詞：那個嘗試、那個威脅，外表有形狀，內容是空的。
futile (vain attempt, vain hope) · adjective · C2
Used before attempt, hope, search, or effort: that try fails to get the result you wanted.
徒勞的
人撐得很滿：虛榮
從「內容是空的」轉到人身上：得意是真的，得意的底子是空的。
conceited about looks · adjective · C2
Too proud of your looks, your skills, or your position, in a way that other people do not like.
虛榮
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
vainadj詞源 1/veɪn/
- 1
Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
- Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
- 2
Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
- I will not hear thy vain excuse
- Let no man deceive you with vain words.
- 3
Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
- vain toil a vain attempt
- Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
- 4
Showy; ostentatious.
- Yet ſhall (my Lord) your juſt, your noble Rules / Fill half the land with imitating Fools: / VVho random dravvings from your ſheets ſhall take, / And of one beauty many blunders make; / Load ſome vain Church with old Theatric State, / Turn Arcs of Triumph to a Garden-gate, […]
vainverb詞源 2/veɪn/
- 1
obsoletedatedrareTo frustrate.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。