Word of the Day

Saturday, March 22, 2003

inanition

\in-uh-NISH-uhn\ , noun;

The condition or quality of being empty.

Exhaustion, as from lack of nourishment.

Lack of vitality or spirit.

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Quotes:

The problem that faces British universities is not that they have become fat and lazy, but that they have been starved beyond lean efficiency into inanition.

-- John Sutherland, "A contest that no one can really win", The Guardian, August 14, 2000

Even without, or before, revolution or foreign invasion, states can decline of their own inanition.

-- Harold Perkin, "The rise and fall of empires: the role of surplus extraction", History Today, April 2002

Sadly, though not surprisingly, convention speeches designed to rouse voters from their indifference only exacerbate the country's inanition.

-- Thomas J. Mccarthy, "This year's national party meetings displayed poll-itics as usual", America, September 9, 2000

Origin:

Inanition derives from Latin inanitio, "emptiness," from inanire, "to make empty," from inanis, "empty." It is related to inane, "lacking sense or intelligence; pointless."