vex
See also: VEX
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English vexen, from Old French vexer, from Latin vexāre (“disturb, agitate, annoy”). Doublet of quake. Displaced native Old English dreċċan and gremman.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
vex (third-person singular simple present vexes, present participle vexing, simple past and past participle vexed or (archaic) vext)
- (transitive) To annoy, irritate.
- (transitive) To cause (mental) suffering to; to distress.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 151:
- I will not again vex her ear with words of love, however true, however deep: ours is an evil destiny, and we may not control it!
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XLI, page 64:
- I vex my heart with fancies dim:
He still outstript me in the race;
It was but unity of place
That made me dream I rank’d with him.
- (transitive, now rare) To trouble aggressively, to harass.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts xij:[1], folio clxxj, verso:
- In that tyme Herode the kynge layed hondes on certayne of the congregaciõ, to vexe them.
- (transitive, rare) To twist, to weave.
- 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):
- some English wool, vexed in a Belgian loom
- (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.
- 1613, George Chapman, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois:
- Wake when thou would'st wake, fear nought, vex for nought
- (transitive) To toss back and forth; to agitate; to disquiet.
- 1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
- White curl the waves, and the vexed ocean roars.
Quotations edit
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:vex.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Welsh: becso
Translations edit
to annoy
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to distress; to cause mental suffering
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rare, archaic: to trouble aggressively
- 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
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Noun edit
vex (plural vexes)
References edit
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “vex”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
vex
- Alternative form of wax (“wax”)
Etymology 2 edit
Verb edit
vex
- Alternative form of vexen
Old Norse edit
Verb edit
vex