vandal

See also: Vandal, vandál, and vàndal

English

Etymology

1660s, “willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable”, from Vandal, referring to a member of an ancient Germanic people, the Vandals, who are associated with senseless destruction as a result of their sack of Rome under King Genseric in 455. During the Enlightenment, Rome was idealized, while the Goths and Vandals were blamed for its destruction. The Vandals may not have been any more destructive than other invaders of ancient times, but they did inspire English poet John Dryden to write, Till Goths, and Vandals, a rude Northern race, Did all the matchless Monuments deface (1694). However, the Vandals did intentionally damage statues, which may be why their name is associated with the vandalism of art. The coining of French Vandalisme by Henri Grégoire in 1794 to describe the destruction of artwork following the French Revolution popularized the idea further, and the term was quickly adopted across Europe, including as English vandalism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvændəl/
• Rhymes: -ændəl

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

vandal (plural vandals)

1. A person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages things, especially other people's property.

   Vandals spray-painted obscenities on the side of the building.

   The anonymous vandal was blocked after going on a vandalism spree.

Synonyms

• destroyer
• ruiner
• wrecker

Derived terms

Derived terms

• vandalic
• vandalise, vandalize
• vandalish
• vandalism
• vandal-proof, vandalproof

Translations

person who destroys or damages property

• Armenian: վանդալ (hy) (vandal)
• Belarusian: ванда́л m (vandál)
• Bulgarian: ванда́л (bg) m (vandál)
• Catalan: vàndal m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 破壞者／破坏者 (zh) (pòhuàizhě)

• Czech: vandal (cs) m
• Danish: vandal c
• Dutch: vandaal (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: vandalo
• Estonian: vandaal
• Finnish: vandaali (fi), ilkivallantekijä (fi)
• French: vandale (fr) m
• Galician: vándalo m
• Georgian: ვანდალი (vandali)
• German: Vandale (de) m
• Greek: βάνδαλος (el) m or f (vándalos), βανδαλιστής m (vandalistís)
• Hungarian: vandál (hu)
• Icelandic: skemmdarvargur (is) m
• Interlingua: vandalo
• Irish: creachadóir m, loitiméir m, sladaire m
• Italian: vandalo (it) m
• Japanese: 破壊者 (hakaisha)
• Korean: 반달 (ko) (bandal)
• Manx: cragheyder m, jeeylleyder
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vandal m

  Nynorsk: vandal m

• Persian: خرابکار (fa) (xarâbkâr), مغول (fa) (moğol)
• Polish: wandal (pl) m
• Portuguese: vândalo (pt) m
• Russian: ванда́л (ru) m (vandál), ванда́лка f (vandálka)
• Slovak: vandal m
• Spanish: vándalo (es) m
• Swedish: vandal (sv) c
• Ukrainian: ванда́л (uk) m (vandál)
• Yiddish: וואַנדאַל (yi) m (vandal)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Manx: ^{(please verify)} vandal m
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} vandalan

Czech

Noun

vandal m anim

1. vandal (person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages other people's property)

Declension

Declension of vandal (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	vandal	vandalové
genitive	vandala	vandalů
dative	vandalovi, vandalu	vandalům
accusative	vandala	vandaly
vocative	vandale	vandalové
locative	vandalovi, vandalu	vandalech
instrumental	vandalem	vandaly

Further reading

• “vandal”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “vandal”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Manx

Etymology

Borrowed from English vandal.

Noun

vandal m (genitive singular vandal, plural vandallyn)

1. (history) vandal

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin vandali (plural).

Noun

vandal m (definite singular vandalen, indefinite plural vandaler, definite plural vandalene)

1. (modern-day) a vandal
2. (historical) a Vandal

Derived terms

• vandalsk

References

• “vandal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin vandali (plural).

Noun

vandal m (definite singular vandalen, indefinite plural vandalar, definite plural vandalane)

1. (modern-day) a vandal
2. (historical) a Vandal

Derived terms

• vandalsk

References

• “vandal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vandale.

Noun

vandal m (plural vandali)

1. vandal
2. Vandal

Declension

Declension of vandal

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) vandal	vandalul	(niște) vandali	vandalii
genitive/dative	(unui) vandal	vandalului	(unor) vandali	vandalilor
vocative	vandalule		vandalilor

Swedish

Noun

vandal c

1. a vandal
2. a Vandal (member of an ancient east Germanic tribe)

Declension

Declension of vandal
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	vandal	vandalen	vandaler	vandalerna
Genitive	vandals	vandalens	vandalers	vandalernas

See also

• huligan (“hooligan”)
• ligist

References

• vandal in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• vandal in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• vandal in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)