vandal
English
editEtymology
edit1660s, “willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable”,[1] 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).[2] 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
editNoun
editvandal (plural vandals)
- 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
editDerived terms
editTranslations
edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References
edit- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “vandal”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ [John] Dryden (1694) “To Sir Godfrey Kneller”, in The Annual Miscellany: for the Year 1694. Being the Fourth Part of Miscellany Poems. Containing Great Variety of New Translations and Original Copies, by the Most Eminent Hands., London: […] R. E. for Jacob Tonson, […], page 90: “Till Goths and Vandals, a rude Northern Race, / Did all the matchless Monuments deface.”
Czech
editNoun
editvandal m anim
- vandal (person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages other people's property)
Declension
editFurther reading
editManx
editEtymology
editNoun
editvandal m (genitive singular vandal, plural vandallyn)
Norwegian Bokmål
editEtymology
editNoun
editvandal m (definite singular vandalen, indefinite plural vandaler, definite plural vandalene)
Derived terms
editReferences
edit- “vandal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
editEtymology
editNoun
editvandal m (definite singular vandalen, indefinite plural vandalar, definite plural vandalane)
Derived terms
editReferences
edit- “vandal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Romanian
editEtymology
editNoun
editvandal m (plural vandali)
Declension
editsingular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | ||
nominative-accusative | vandal | vandalul | vandali | vandalii | |
genitive-dative | vandal | vandalului | vandali | vandalilor | |
vocative | vandalule | vandalilor |
Swedish
editNoun
editvandal c
Declension
editSee also
editReferences
edit- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ændəl
- Rhymes:English/ændəl/2 syllables
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:People
- Czech lemmas
- Czech nouns
- Czech masculine nouns
- Czech animate nouns
- Czech masculine animate nouns
- Czech hard masculine animate nouns
- Manx terms borrowed from English
- Manx terms derived from English
- Manx lemmas
- Manx nouns
- Manx masculine nouns
- gv:History
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian masculine nouns
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns