vandal
Use Vandal in a sentence
dl noun
1.
( initial capital letter ) a member of a Germanic people who in the 5th century a.d. ravaged Gaul and Spain, settled in Africa, and in a.d. 455 sacked Rome.
2.
a person who willfully or ignorantly destroys or mars something beautiful or valuable.
adjective
3.
( initial capital letter ) of or pertaining to the Vandals.
4.
imbued with or characterized by vandalism.
Origin:
1545–55; < Late Latin Vandalus, Latinized tribal name
1545–55; < Late Latin Vandalus, Latinized tribal name
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To vandal
00:10
Vandal
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
vandal (ˈvændəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| a. a person who deliberately causes damage or destruction to personal or public property | |
| b. (as modifier): vandal instincts | |
| [C17: from | |
| Vandal (ˈvændəl) | |
| —n | |
| a member of a Germanic people that raided Roman provinces in the 3rd and 4th centuries | |
| Vandalic | |
| —adj | |
| 'Vandalism | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
vandal
1660s, "willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable," from Vandals, name of Gmc. tribe that sacked Rome in 455 under Genseric, from L. Vandalus (pl. Vandali), from the tribe's name for itself (O.E. Wendlas), from P.Gmc. *Wandal- "Wanderer."
"There does not seem to be in the story of the capture of Rome by the Vandals any justification for the charge of willful and objectless destruction of public buildings which is implied in the word 'vandalism.' It is probable that this charge grew out of the fierce persecution which was carried on by [the Vandal king] Gaiseric and his son against the Catholic Christians, and which is the darkest stain on their characters." ["Encyclopedia Britannica," 13th ed., 1926]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The graffiti is drawn without the permission of the property owner and is used by the vandal as a means of gaining recognition.
Any private eye or vandal can buy your mobile-phone records.
But for the more musically literate vandal, an atonal barrage probably works better.
New ornamental fencing will replace the existing vandal screening.
Matching Quote
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
