Vain

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is vain

  • a rare male German first name, for example from various bearers of the name Eitel Friedrich in the Hohenzollern house
  • a surname
    • Albert Eitel (1866–1934), German architect
    • Anton Eitel (1841–1928), German engraver
    • Anton Eitel (1882–1966), German historian
    • Bernhard Eitel (* 1959), German geoscientist, rector of Heidelberg University
    • Emil Eitel (1865–1948), German hotel and restaurant entrepreneur in Chicago
    • Emil Eitel Sr. (1840–1938), German leather goods manufacturer
    • Ernst Johann Eitel (1838–1908), German Protestant missionary in China and author of a Cantonese dictionary
    • Hans Eitel (1906–1991), German architect
    • Henrik Eitel (* 1977), German politician (CDU) and political official
    • Karl Eitel (1871–1954), German hotel and restaurant entrepreneur in Chicago
    • Karl Eitel (garden architect) (mentioned 1913–1927), German garden architect in Stuttgart
    • Max Eitel (1882–1954), German catering entrepreneur in Chicago
    • Otto K. Eitel (1901–1983), hotel manager of German descent in Chicago
    • Paul Eitel (* 1957), Swiss lawyer, attorney and professor at the University of Lucerne
    • Peter Eitel (* 1938), German historian and archivist
    • Robert Eitel (1877–1948), German catering entrepreneur in Chicago
    • Tim Eitel (* 1971), German painter
    • Tono Eitel (1933–2017), German lawyer and diplomat
    • Ulrich Eitel , German television journalist
    • Viktor Adolf Eitel (1845–1924), German theologian and politician
    • Wilhelm Eitel (1891–1979), German mineralogist and silicate chemist
  • a name for the carp fish chub (also Aitel )

vain is

  • a human quality, see vanity
  • an outdated German word meaning "only", "merely", "exclusively", still used in idioms like:
    • there is vain joy = pure joy, joy in the highest degree (positive)
    • this is vain chatter = nothing but talk, superficial talk (negative).