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languishment

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A state of weakness, drooping, or wasting away. It often suggests emotional or physical decline.

Detailed Definition
Languishment is an older, rarer noun for a condition of languishing. In this poem it belongs to the language of Love’s injuries, suggesting a drained, weakened state caused by desire.
Example
Example in poetry:
“From me he took his languishment and fears” joins emotional exhaustion to anxiety; “Languishment lay over the garden at noon” makes the noun an atmosphere of listlessness; Keats’s “a drowsy numbness pains / My sense” exemplifies languishing sensation without using the exact word; “After the vigil, her languishment turned slowly into song” suggests recovery from enervation
Additional Notes
Languishment is an uncommon, old-fashioned noun, and the quoted line uses it in a way many readers would need to look up.; Found in the poem, Love Armed by Aphra Behn
Also Known As
faintness weakness languor weariness
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