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ydel. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ydel, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ydel in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ydel you have here. The definition of the word
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Middle English
- idel, idil, idill, idul, idyl, idyll, ydell, ydil, ydill, ydul, ydull
Etymology
From Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdal, from Proto-Germanic *īdalaz.
Pronunciation
Adjective
ydel (plural and weak singular ydele)
- vain, worthless, pointless
- c. 1368, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess, as recorded c. 1440–1450 in Bodleian Library MS. Fairfax 16, folio 130r:
I have so many an ydel thoght / Purely for defaulte of slepe / That by my trouthe I take no kepe / Of noo thinge how hyt cometh or gooth / Ne me nys no thynge leve nor looth- I have so many idle thoughts / Purely from lack of sleep / That I swear I take no heed / Of anything, whether it comes or goes, / And nothing is either dear to me or hated.
- empty, void, vacant
- idle, inactive
- lazy, sluggish
Descendants
References
Noun
ydel (uncountable)
- (rare) uselessness, waste
- (rare) idleness, inactivity
Descendants
References