enviable
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L336492 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɛn.vi.ə.bl̩/ / /ˈɛn.vɪ.ə.b(ə)l/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Old French enviebor. Middle English envie English envy Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English enviable From envy + -able (suffix meaning ‘able or fit to be done’ forming adjectives).
- Arousing or likely to arouse envy.
“Sundrie other Gent[lemen] reſt beholden to this hundred, for their dvvellings, vvho, in an enuiable mediocritie of fortune, do happilie poſſeſſe themſelues, and communicate their ſufficient means to the ſeruice of their prince, the good of their neighbours, and the bettering of their ovvn eſtate: […]”
“In the course I have taken, I have met, and do daily meet, so many vexations, that I may with truth assure you, that my situation is anything rather than enviable, though it is my happiness to act with those that are far the best that probably ever were engaged in the public service of this country at any time.”