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idleness

noun

  1. state of a person who does not do anything laborious
L322248 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈaɪdəlnəs/

noun

Etymology: From Middle English ydelnesse, from Old English īdelnes, from Proto-West Germanic *īdalnassī, equivalent to idle + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian īdelnisse (“idelness”), obsolete Dutch ijdelnis, Old Saxon īdalnussi (“idleness, vanity”), Old High German ītalnissa (“idleness, vanity, emptiness”).

  1. The state of being idle; inactivity.
  2. The state of being indolent; indolence.

    For either they be puffed vp vvith pride, / Or fraught vvith enuie that their galls do ſvvell, / Or they their dayes to ydleneſſe diuide, / Or drovvnded lie in pleaſures vvaſtefull vvell, / In vvhich like Moldvvarps [i.e., moles] nouſling ſtill they lurke, / Vnmyndfull of chiefe parts of manlineſſe, / And do themſelues for vvant of other vvorke, / Vaine votaries of laeſie loue profeſſe, […]

  3. Groundlessness; worthlessness; triviality; vanity; frivolity.