languor /ˈlaNG(ɡ)ər/ I. noun 1. the state or feeling, often pleasant, of tiredness or inertia • he remembered the languor and warm happiness of those golden afternoons. 2. an oppressive stillness of the air • the afternoon was hot, quiet, and heavy with languor. II. derivatives 1. languorous /ˈlaNG(ɡ)(ə)rəs / adjective 2. languorously /ˈlaNG(ɡ)(ə)rəslē / adverb – origin Middle English: via Old French from Latin, from languere (see languish). The original sense was ‘illness, disease, distress,’ later ‘faintness, lassitude’; current senses date from the 18th cent., when such lassitude became associated with a sometimes rather self-indulgent romantic yearning.
