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invano

in vain

adverb een-VAH-noh Rare

Origin: From Latin in vanum, 'into emptiness'.

Also means

uselessly

Usage Note

Invano is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning that an effort produced no result. It typically follows the verb: cercò invano (he searched in vain). Unlike English 'in vain', it is always written as one word in Italian.

Examples

"Cercò invano le chiavi."

Natural Translation

He searched in vain for the keys.

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