vague 
The strange and idill beggaris ... are sufferit to vaiy 
and wander throughout the haill cuntrey. 
Scotch Lau'S, 1600, quoted in Hihton-Turncr's Vagrants 
[and Vagrancy, p. 350. 
These small bodies, being hudled perforce one upon an- 
other, leave a large void space, to mijne and range abroad. 
Holland, tr. of Plutarch, p. 630. 
vaguely (vilg'li), <tdc. In a vague, uncertain, 
or unsettled manner ; without definiteuess or 
distinctness. 
vagueness (vag'nes), n. The state of being 
vague, indefinite, unsettled, or uncertain; am- 
biguousness; indistinctness. 
Common language has, in most cases, a certain degree 
of looseness and ambiguity ; as common knowledge has 
usually something of vagueness and indistinctness. 
Whewcll, Philos. of Inductive Sciences, I. xlviii. 
There is a degree of vagueness about the use of the 
terms person and personality. 
H. D. Smith, Christian Theology, p. 170. 
vagus (va'gus), . ; pi. vagi (-ji). [NL. (so. ner- 
, nerve), (.L.vagiis, wandering: see vague.] 1. 
The tenth cranial nerve, or wandering nerve, 
the longest and most widely distributed of the 
nerves of the brain, extending through the neck 
and thorax to the upper part of the abdomen, it 
supplies the organs of voice and respiration with motor and 
sensory fibers, and the pharynx, esophagus, stomach, and 
heart with motor influence. Its superficial origin is from 
the medulla, immediately in front of the restiform body 
and below that of the glossopharyngeal. It passes out of 
the cranial cavity through the jugular foramen, and accom- 
panies the carotid artery in the neck to the thorax, where 
the nerves of the two sides differ in their course, that of 
the right side reaching the posterior surface of the eso- 
phagus and stomach, while that of the left goes to the 
anterior. It gives off very numerous branches, as the 
meningeal, auricular, pharyngeal, laryngeal, pulmonary, 
cardiac, gastric, etc., and forms intricate connections with 
other nerves of the cerebrospinal system, and with nerves 
of the sympathetic system. Also called pneumogastric, 
par vaaum, and formerly second division of the eighth nerve 
of Willis. 
The vagus nerve, which connects the brain with the vis- 
cera. H. Spencer, Education, p. 273. 
2. In insects, the principal visceral or stomato- 
gastric nerve, which originates in two parts in 
the head, beneath the bases of the antenna?, 
uniting in a ganglion below the cerebrum, and 
passing backward along the upper surface of 
the intestinal canal. In thethorax itdivides into two 
parts, which give off numerous smaller nerves to all the 
viscera. Trigonum vagi. Same as ala cinerea (which 
see, under ala). Vagus ganglion. See ganglion. 
Vahea (va'he-ii), w. [NL. (Lamarck, 1791), from 
the name of the tree in Madagascar.] A ge- 
nus of apocynaceous plants, comprising a few 
(perhaps two) species formerly included in the 
genus LandoJpliia. The name Vahea is also used by 
some in place of Landolphia for several other species which 
are important rubber-plants, as V. (L.) Heudelotii of Sene- 
gal, V. (L.)Jlorida of West Africa, remarkable for the beauty 
of ita abundant fragrant white flowers, and V. (L.) Owari- 
ensis of Angola, which bears an edible, sweet and acidu- 
lous, pulpy fruit of the size of an orange. 
vaich, v. i. See vake. 
Vaidic, Vaidik (va'dik), a. [< Skt. vaidika, re- 
lating to the Vedas.] Same as Ferftc. 
The earliest religious utterances which have been pre- 
served in Aryan literature are known as the Vaidik 
hymns. J. T. Wheeler, Short Hist. India, p. 61. 
vaigt, (' i. A Scotch spelling of vague. 
vaik, c. i. See vake. 
vail 1 , n. and i>. See veil. 
vail- (val), r. ?'. [< ME. vailen, vaylen ; by apher- 
esis from avail : see avail 1 ."] To profit ; benefit ; 
avail : a poetical use. 
To hym not vaileth his preening, 
Al helpe he other with his teching. 
Bom. of the Rose, 1. 5765. 
Vails not to tell what steeds did spurn, 
"Where the Seven Spears of Wedderburne 
Their men in battle-order set. 
Scott, L. of L. M., v. 4. 
vail 2 (val), H. [ByapheresisfromoiKitf 1 , w.] If. 
Profit; gain; produce. 
My house is as 'twere the cave where the young outlaw 
hoards the stolen vails of his occupation. 
Marston, Jonson, and Chapman, Eastward Ho, ii. 1. 
His commings in are like a Taylors, from the shreds of 
bread, the chippings, and remnants of the broken crust : 
excepting his vailes from the barrell, which poore folkes 
buy for their hogs, but drinke themselues. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, An old Colledge Butler. 
2f. An unlooked-for or casual acquisition; a 
windfall. Tooke. 3. Money given to servants 
by a visitor; a tip: usually in the plural. Also 
vale. 
Why should he, like a Servant, seek Vails over and 
above his Wages? Milton, Touching Hirelings. 
"Avails" is good old English, and the vails of Sir Joshua 
Reynolds's porter are famous. 
Lowell, Biglow Papers, 2d ser., Int. 
On the smallest provocation, or at the hope of the small- 
est increase of wages, or still more of vales, the servant 
threw up his place. Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., iv. 
6686 
(val), r. [Also vale; by apherpsix from 
obs.avale: see anile.'] I. trans. To let or cast 
down; let fall; lower; doff, especially in token 
of submission. 
Then may'st thou think that Mars himself came down, 
To vail thy plumes, and heave thee from thy pump. 
Greene, Orlando l-'urioso. 
None that beheld him but . . . 
Did vail their crowns to his supremacy. 
Shak., Pericles, ii. 3. 42. 
Now vail your pride, you captive Christians, 
And kneel for mercy to your conquering foe. 
Marlowe, Jew of Malta, v. 2. 
II. intrans. 1. To yield; give place; express 
respect or submission by yielding, uncovering, 
or otherwise ; bow. 
Because we vailed not to the Turkish fleet, 
Their creeping galleys had us in the chase. 
Marlowe, Jew of Malta, ii. 2. 
Every one that does not know cries, " What nobleman 
is that?" all the gallants on the stage rise, vail to me, 
kiss their hand, offer me their places. 
Beau, and Fl., Woman-Hater, i. 3. 
2. Todrop; move down; take a lower position; 
slope downward. 
The same ships in good order valed downe the Riuer of 
Thames. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 288. 
With all speed I vailed down that night ten miles, to 
take the tide in the morning. 
Capt. Roger Bodenham (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. S3). 
vai! 3 t (val), M. [< vmft, .] Submission; de- 
scent; decline. 
Even with the vail and darking of the sun, 
To close the day up, Hector's life is done. 
Shak., T. and C., v. 8. 7. 
vailablet (va'la-bl), . [By apheresis from 
available."] Profitable; advantageous. Smith, 
Commonwealth, ii. 4. (Richardson.) 
vailer 1 , vailing, etc. See veiler, etc. 
vailer 2 t (va'ler), n. [< vaip + -er 1 .] One who 
vails ; one who yields or gives place in submis- 
sion or deference. 
He is high in his owne imagination ; . . . when nee goes, 
hee looks who looks ; if hee finds not good store of vailers 
he comes home stiffe. 
Sir T. Overbury, Characters, A Golden Asse. 
vaimuret, Same as vantmiire. 
vain (van), a. [< ME. vain, vayn, vein, veyn, < 
OF. (and F.) vain = Pr. van, va = Cat. va = Sp. 
vano = Pg. vSo = It. vano, < L. vanus, empty, 
void, fig. idle, fruitless; of persons, idle, decep- 
tive, ostentatious, vain ; perhaps orig. *vacnus, 
and so akin to L. vacuus, empty : see vacuous, va- 
cant. Some suggest a connection with E. wane, 
want, wan- ; but this is improbable. Hence 
(from L. vanus) also E. vanish, vanity, vaunt, 
evanish, evanesce, etc.] 1. Having no real 
value or importance; worthless; unsubstan- 
tial; empty; trivial; idle. 
But, O vain boast ! 
Who can control his fate ? 
Shak., Othello, v. 2. 264. 
Vain matter is worse than vain words. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 
She . . . had never proved 
How vain a thing is mortal love. 
M . Arnold, Switzerland, vi. , Isolation. 
2. Producing no good result ; destitute of force 
or efficacy; fruitless; ineffectual; useless; fu- 
tile; unavailing. 
It should be but a vaine thing, and counted hut as lost 
laboure. Levins, Manip. Vocab. (E. E. T. S.), Pref., p. 2. 
Give us help from trouble ; for rain is the help of man. 
Ps. Ix. 11. 
Let no man speak again 
To alter this, for counsel is but vain. 
Shak., Rich. II., iii. 2. 214. 
3. Light-minded; foolish; silly. 
As school-maids change their names 
By vain though apt affection. 
Shak., M. for M., i. 4. 48. 
For it is a vain thing to expect, in so open a condition as 
we live in here, that no cross Winds should blow upon us. 
Stulinyfleet, Sermons, I. x. 
4. Proud of petty things or of trifling attain- 
ments or accomplishments ; elated with a high 
opinion of one's personal appearance, manners, 
or the like ; courting the admiration or applause 
of others; conceited; self-complacent; also, 
proceeding from or marked by such pride or 
conceit : as, to be vain of one's figure or one's 
dress. 
For to be conscious of what all admire, 
And not be vain, advances virtue higher. 
Dryden, Eleonora, 1. 101. 
Mr. Holloway was a grave, conscientious clergyman, 
not vain of telling anecdotes, very learned, particularly a 
good orientalist. T. Warton, in Ellis's Lit. Letters, p. 320. 
I never heard or saw the introductory words " Without 
vanity I may say," etc., but some vain thing immediately 
followed. Franklin, Autobiog., p 3. 
vair 
5. Showy; ostentatious; pretentious. 
Load some vain church with old theatric state. 
Pope, Moral Essays, iv. 29. 
For vaint. Same as in vain. 
Yea, my gravity, 
Wherein let no man hear me I take pride, 
Could I with boot exchange for an idle plume, 
Which the air beats for vain. 
Shak., M. for M., ii. 4. 12. 
In vain, to no purpose; without success or advantage; 
ineffectually. 
Butt all that euer he spak it was in vayn. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3062. 
In vain they combated, in vain they writ. 
Prior, Henry and Emma. 
To take a name in vain. See name'. =Syn. 1. Unreal, 
shadowy, dreamy, delusive, false, deceitful. 2. Bootless, 
abortive. 4. See egotism. 
vainfult (van'ful), a. [< raw + -/?.] Vain ; 
empty. Tusser, Husbandry, Author's Epis- 
tle, ii. 
Vainglorious (van-gl6'ri-us), . [< vainglory 
+ -ovs.] 1. Filled with vainglory; glorying 
in excess of one's own achievements; extrava- 
gantly elated ; boastful; vaunting. 
Vaine-ylorinus man, when fluttering Wind does blow, 
In his light winges is lifted up to skye. 
Spenier, F. Q.,11. iii. 10. 
The philosophers of his time, the flushing rain-glorious 
Greeks, who pretended so much to magnify and even adore 
the wisdom they professed. South, Sermons, III. vi. 
2. Indicating or proceeding from vainglory; 
founded on excessive vanity ; boastful. 
Arrogant and vainglorious expression. Sir M. Hale. 
A vainglorious confidence prevailed, about this time, 
among the Spanish cavaliers. Irving, Granada, p. 66. 
He discourses, in rather a vainglorious way, of himself 
as a poet. Ticknor, Span. Lit., I. 249. 
vaingloriously (van-glo'ri-us-li), adi\ With 
vainglory or inflated arrogance ; boastfully. 
vaingloriousness (van-glo'ri-us-nes), n. The 
quality or state of being vainglorious. 
vainglory (van-glo'ri), n. [< ME. vaine glorie, 
veingloire, < OF. vaine gloire, F. vaine gloire, < 
L. vana gloria, empty boasting: see vain and 
glory.'] Extravagant pride or boastfulness ; 
tendency to exalt one's self or one's own per- 
formances unduly; inflated and pretentious 
vanity ; vain pomp or show. 
Vaine-glorie is for to have pompe and delft in his tem- 
poral highnesse, and glorie him in his worldly estate. 
Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
But for the fear of incurring the suspicion of vainglory, 
he would have sung a psalm with as firm and cheerful a 
voice as if he had been worshipping God in the congre- 
gation. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
vainglory (van-glo'ri), v. i. ; pret. and pp. vain- 
gloried, ppr. vaingloryiiig. [< vainglory, .] To 
indulge in vain boasting. [Rare.] 
It would be idle and frivolous to mention these points 
for the sake of vain- glorying during the Jubilee year. 
Westminster Rev., CXXVIII. 485. 
vainly (van'li), adv. In a vain manner. Espe- 
cially (a) Without effect ; to no purpose ; ineffectually ; 
in vain. 
In weak complaints you vainly waste your breath. 
Dryden. 
(b) In an inflated or conceited manner ; proudly ; arro- 
gantly : as, to strut about vainly. 
A stranger to superior strength, 
Man vainly trusts his own. 
Cou-per, Human Frailty. 
(c) Idly ; foolishly ; unreasonably ; hence, erroneously ; 
falsely. 
Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 5. 239. 
We haue sufficient to content our selues, though not in 
such abundance as is vainly reported in England. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 36. 
vainness (vau'nes), n. 1. The state of being 
vain; ineffectualness; fruitlessness : as, the 
vainness of effort. 2. Empty pride; vanity. 
Vainness, a meagre friend to gratefulness, brought him 
... to despise Erona. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, ii. 
Free from vainness and self-glorious pride. 
Shak., Hen. V., v., Prol. 
3f. Foolishness; folly. 
O! how great vainnesse is it then to scorne 
The weake ! 
Spenser, Visions of the World's Vanity, 1. 83. 
I hate ingratitude more in a man 
Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness. 
Shak., T. N., iii. 4. 389. 
vair (var), n. [Formerly also were ; <WE.vair, 
vayre, veir, feir, < OF. rair, F. rai'r = Pr. vair, 
var, vaire, fur of the ermine, < ML. varius, also 
ram, the ermine, < L. varius, spotted, varie- 
gated: see various. Hence vairy, and the sec- 
ond element of minirer.] 1. A kind of fur in 
use in the middle ages. It is generally assumed to 
have been the skin of a small animal, such as the gray 
squirrel, of which the back is gray and the belly white. 
Compare minirer. 
