En"vy (?), v. i. 1. To
be filled with envious feelings; to regard anything with grudging and longing eyes; -- used especially with at.
Who
would envy at the prosperity of the wicked?
Jer.
Taylor. 2. To show malice or ill will; to rail. [Obs.]
"He has . . . envied against the people." Shak.
En"vy , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Envied (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Envying.]
[F. envier.] 1. To feel envy
at or towards; to be envious of; to have a feeling of
uneasiness or mortification in regard to (any one), arising from the sight of another's excellence or good fortune and a longing
to possess it.
A woman does not envy a man for his fighting courage, nor a man a woman for her
beauty.
Collier. Whoever envies another confesses his superiority.
Rambler. 2. To feel envy
on account of; to have a feeling of
grief or repining, with a longing to possess (some excellence or good fortune of another, or an equal good fortune, etc.); to look with
grudging upon; to begrudge.
I have seen thee fight,
When I have
envied thy behavior.
Shak.
Jeffrey . . . had actually envied his
friends their cool mountain breezes.
Froude.
3. To long after; to desire strongly; to covet.
Or
climb his knee the envied kiss to share.
T. Gray. 4. To do harm to; to injure;
to disparage.
[Obs.]
If I make a lie
To gain your love and
envy my best mistress,
Put me against a wall.
J. Fletcher. 5. To hate. [Obs.]
Marlowe.
6. To emulate. [Obs.] Spenser.
En"vy (?), n.;
pl. Envies (#). [F. envie, L. invidia envious; akin to invidere to look askance at, to look with enmity; in against + videre to see. See
Vision.]
1. Malice; ill will; spite. [Obs.]
If he evade us there,
Enforce him with his
envy to the people.
Shak. 2. Chagrin, mortification, discontent, or uneasiness at the sight of
another's excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and a
desire to possess equal advantages; malicious grudging; -- usually followed by of; as,
they did this in envy of Cæsar.
Envy is a
repining at the prosperity or good of another, or anger and displeasure at any good of another which we want, or any advantage another hath above us.
Ray. No bliss
Enjoyed by us excites his envy more.
Milton. Envy, to which the
ignoble mind's a slave,
Is emulation in the learned or brave.
Pope. 3. Emulation; rivalry.
[Obs.]
Such as
cleanliness and decency
Prompt to a virtuous
envy.
Ford. 4. Public odium; ill repute. [Obs.]
To lay the envy of the war upon Cicero.
B. Jonson. 5. An object of
envious notice or feeling.
This constitution in former days used to be the envy of the
world.
Macaulay.
Hear it pronounced