In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
INANITION
inanition
(noun) exhaustion resulting from lack of food
inanition, lassitude, lethargy, slackness
(noun) weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
inanition (countable and uncountable, plural inanitions)
The act of removing the contents of something; the state of being empty.
Synonyms: emptying, emptiness
(medicine) A state of advanced lack of adequate nutrition, food, or water or a physiological inability to utilize them, with resulting weakness; starvation or cachexia.
(philosophy) A spiritual emptiness or lack of purpose or will to live, akin to the Existentialist Philosophy state of "nausea".
Antonyms
• (emptiness): repletion
Source: Wiktionary
In`a*ni"tion, n. Etym: [F. inanition, L. inanitio emptiness, fr. inanire to empty, fr. inanis empty. Cf. Inane.]
Definition: The condition of being inane; emptiness; want of fullness, as in the vessels of the body; hence, specifically, exhaustion from want of food, either from partial or complete starvation, or from a disorder of the digestive apparatus, producing the same result. Feeble from inanition, inert from weariness. Landor. Repletion and inanition may both do harm in two contrary extremes. Burton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
16 June 2025
WINEBERRY
(noun) raspberry of China and Japan having pale pink flowers grown for ornament and for the small red acid fruits
Coffee Trivia
