Definition

to render (passively, become) foolish, i.e. (morally) wicked or (specially), idolatrous

Etymology

from G3152 (μάταιος);

Where the KJV renders it

• become vain

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.