orgueil

Etymology

In older uses, from Middle English orguile, from Old French orgueil, from Vulgar Latin *orgollium, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀgōllju, from Proto-Germanic *uzgōljō. (Compare Old English orgol, orgel (“pride”). For more, see Old English or- (“out”) + *gōl (“boast; showiness; pomp; splendor”) / English gale (“sing”).) Cognate with Old High German urguol, urguoli, urgilo (“pride”) and Spanish orgullo. In modern uses sometimes a fresh borrowing from French orgueil.

Why this word is great

ORGUEIL — [Noun] Pride, often with connotations of arrogance or excessive self-esteem. From Middle English orguile, from Old French orgueil, from Vulgar Latin *orgollium, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀgōllju, from Proto-Germanic *uzgōljō ("pride"), related to Old English orgol, orgel ("pride") and Old High German urguol, urguoli, urgilo ("pride"). Unlike "fierté" (pride earned through achievement, clean as a medal pinned to a lapel) or "vanité" (pride fixated on surface glitter and flattery), orgueil is the unshakable conviction of one’s own superiority, armored against reason. It is the aristocrat’s sneer, the scholar’s dismissal of unlettered minds, the way a cliff refuses to acknowledge the sea eroding its base—until, inevitably, it does. Pride, at its core, is the last fortress before the fall.

noun

  1. Pride.“Four times, with his orgueil, his love of magnificence, he condemned himself incongruously to the modern and familiar, groaning at every step over the horrible difficulty of reconciling "style " in such cases with truth and dialogue with surface.”