Jealous vs Envy

Envious vs. Jealous At first glance the average person might think that the words envious and jealous can be used interchangeably, because they are synonyms, but if you stop and analyze these two words you will find that they are not all that interchangeable. When it comes to deciding what words are kept in a language and what words are eventually replaced by more efficient words, a linguist knows that a language can only stand to keep words that communicate something and that are efficient in that communication process. Due to the fact that a language only keeps words that are need to communicate something that is unique to that word I believe that the English language would not keep envious and jealous if the two words communicated the same exact message. In the first half of this paper I will analize the word envious and how it is used in literary examples. Then in the second half of this paper I will look at the word jealous and how it is used in literary texts. Once I have examined both of words I will then compare how the two words differ in their usages. The definition of the word envious is, “Feeling, expressing, or characterized by envy.” (American Heritage® Dictionary) I don’t think that you can really define a word by using the word in the definition so I would like to include the definition of envy because I feel like it accurately defines envious, the adjectival form of envy, as well. The dictionary defines envy as, “A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.” (American Heritage® Dictionary) The etymology of the word envy is that it comes from “Middle English envie, from Old French, from Latin invidia, from invidus, envious, from invid[pic]re, to look at with envy.” (American Heritage® Dictionary) I think that the invariant meaning of the word envious is to desire something, whether it is tangible or intangible, that someone else has. In the

Cited: “envious” and “jealous.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. www.bartleby.com/61/. April 27, 2008. Alcott, Louis May. Little Women. London: Crown, 1954. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Random House, 1967. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Toronto: Bantan Books, 1995. Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage and Four Stories. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. New York: Random House, 1945. Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. London: Bantan Books, 1963. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Penguin, 1994.