Van"ish (?), v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Vanished (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Vanishing.] [OE. vanissen, OF. vanir (in comp.): cf.
OF. envanir, esvanir, esvanuïr, F.
s'évanouir; fr. L. vanus empty, vain; cf. L.
vanescere, evanescere, to vanish. See Vain, and cf.
Evanescent,-ish.]
1. To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to
go out of sight; to disappear; to fade; as, vapor vanishes from the
sight by being dissipated; a ship vanishes from the sight of
spectators on land.
The horse vanished . . . out of sight.
Chaucer.
Go; vanish into air; away!
Shak.
The champions vanished from their posts with the
speed of lightning.
Sir W. Scott.
Gliding from the twilight past to vanish among
realities.
Hawthorne.
2. To be annihilated or lost; to pass away.
"All these delights will vanish." Milton.
Van"ish (?), n. (Phon.) The brief
terminal part of vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in quality
from the main part; as, a as in ale ordinarily ends with a
vanish of i as in ill, o as in old with
a vanish of oo as in foot. Rush.
☞ The vanish is included by Mr. Bell under the general term
glide.