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vaunt

[vawnt, vahnt]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to speak vaingloriously of; boast of: to vaunt one's achievements.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to speak boastfully; brag.
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noun
  1. a boastful action or utterance.
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Origin of vaunt

1350–1400; Middle English vaunten < Middle French vanter to boast < Late Latin vānitāre, frequentative of *vānāre, derivative of Latin vānus vain. See vanity
Related formsvaunt·er, nounvaunt·ing·ly, adverbout·vaunt, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for vaunt

Historical Examples

  • He has answered me back, vaunt for vaunt, rhetoric for rhetoric.

    The Napoleon of Notting Hill

    Gilbert K. Chesterton

  • Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung by his saying.

  • Thus did he vaunt, but darkness closed the eyes of the other.

  • They put forth their hypothesis as a provisional one, and they vaunt its convenience.

  • You vaunt that you sit as firm on your throne as this pyramid reposes on its base.

    The Lost Continent

    C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne

British Dictionary definitions for vaunt

vaunt

verb
  1. (tr) to describe, praise, or display (one's success, possessions, etc) boastfully
  2. (intr) rare, or literary to use boastful language; brag
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noun
  1. a boast
  2. archaic ostentatious display
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Derived Formsvaunter, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French vanter, from Late Latin vānitāre to brag, from Latin vānus vain
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vaunt

v.

c.1400, "speak vainly or proudly," from Middle French vanter "to praise, speak highly of," from Late Latin vanitare "to boast," frequentative of Latin vanare "to utter empty words," from vanus "idle, empty" (see vain). Related: Vaunted; vaunting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper