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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Idle_Hour.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] idel, from [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] īdel; akin to Old High German ītal worthless
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century before 12th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: lacking [[worth]] or basis : vain <idle chatter> <idle [[pleasure]]>
*2: not occupied or employed: as a : having no employment : inactive <idle workers>
:b : not turned to [[normal]] or appropriate use <idle farmland>
:c : not scheduled to [[compete]] <the team will be idle tomorrow>
*3a : shiftless, [[lazy]]
:b : having no evident lawful means of [[support]]
==Description==
'''Idle''' (idling) is a term which generally refers to a lack of [[motion]] and/or [[energy]].
==Uses==
In describing a [[person]] or [[machine]], idle means the [[act]] of nothing or no [[work]] (for example: "John Smith is an idle person"). This is a [[person]] who spends his days doing nothing could be said to be "idly passing his days." (For example: Mary has been idle on her instant messenger account for hours.) A computer processor or [[communication]] [[circuit]] is described as idle when it is not being used by any program, application or [[message]]. Similarly, an engine of an automobile may be described as idle when it is running only to sustain its running (not doing any useful [[work]]), this is also called the tickover.
==Idleness as dependent upon cultural norms==
Typically, when one describes a [[machine]] as idle, it is an [[objective]] [[statement]] regarding its current state. However, when used to describe a [[person]], idle typically carries a [[negative]] connotation, with the [[assumption]] that the person is wasting their time by doing nothing of [[value]]. Such a view is [[reflected]] in the [[proverb]] "an idle mind is the [[devil]]'s workshop". Also, the popular phrase "killing time" refers to idleness and can be defined as spending time doing nothing in particular in order that time seems to pass more quickly. These [[interpretations]] of idleness are not [[universal]] – they are more typically associated with Western cultures.
==Books on idleness==
The state of being idle is sometimes even [[celebrated]] with a few [[books]] on the subject of idleness. ''How to Be Idle'' by Tom Hodgkinson is one such example from an [[author]] who is also known for his magazine, "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idler_(1993) The Idler]", [[devoted]] to promoting its ethos of "idle living". Nobel Laureate [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell Bertrand Russell]'s ''In Praise of Idleness; And other essays'' is another [[book]] that [[explore]]s the [[virtues]] of being idle in the [[modern]] [[society]].
Mark Slouka published his essay, "Quitting the Paint Factory: The Virtues of Idleness"[2] in the November 2004 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Magazine Harper's Magazine], hinting at a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcity post-scarcity] economy, and linking [[conscious]] [[busy-ness]] with antidemocratic and [[fascist]] tendencies.
==See also==
*'''''[[Leisure]]'''''
[[Category: Sociology]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] idel, from [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] īdel; akin to Old High German ītal worthless
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century before 12th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: lacking [[worth]] or basis : vain <idle chatter> <idle [[pleasure]]>
*2: not occupied or employed: as a : having no employment : inactive <idle workers>
:b : not turned to [[normal]] or appropriate use <idle farmland>
:c : not scheduled to [[compete]] <the team will be idle tomorrow>
*3a : shiftless, [[lazy]]
:b : having no evident lawful means of [[support]]
==Description==
'''Idle''' (idling) is a term which generally refers to a lack of [[motion]] and/or [[energy]].
==Uses==
In describing a [[person]] or [[machine]], idle means the [[act]] of nothing or no [[work]] (for example: "John Smith is an idle person"). This is a [[person]] who spends his days doing nothing could be said to be "idly passing his days." (For example: Mary has been idle on her instant messenger account for hours.) A computer processor or [[communication]] [[circuit]] is described as idle when it is not being used by any program, application or [[message]]. Similarly, an engine of an automobile may be described as idle when it is running only to sustain its running (not doing any useful [[work]]), this is also called the tickover.
==Idleness as dependent upon cultural norms==
Typically, when one describes a [[machine]] as idle, it is an [[objective]] [[statement]] regarding its current state. However, when used to describe a [[person]], idle typically carries a [[negative]] connotation, with the [[assumption]] that the person is wasting their time by doing nothing of [[value]]. Such a view is [[reflected]] in the [[proverb]] "an idle mind is the [[devil]]'s workshop". Also, the popular phrase "killing time" refers to idleness and can be defined as spending time doing nothing in particular in order that time seems to pass more quickly. These [[interpretations]] of idleness are not [[universal]] – they are more typically associated with Western cultures.
==Books on idleness==
The state of being idle is sometimes even [[celebrated]] with a few [[books]] on the subject of idleness. ''How to Be Idle'' by Tom Hodgkinson is one such example from an [[author]] who is also known for his magazine, "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idler_(1993) The Idler]", [[devoted]] to promoting its ethos of "idle living". Nobel Laureate [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell Bertrand Russell]'s ''In Praise of Idleness; And other essays'' is another [[book]] that [[explore]]s the [[virtues]] of being idle in the [[modern]] [[society]].
Mark Slouka published his essay, "Quitting the Paint Factory: The Virtues of Idleness"[2] in the November 2004 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Magazine Harper's Magazine], hinting at a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcity post-scarcity] economy, and linking [[conscious]] [[busy-ness]] with antidemocratic and [[fascist]] tendencies.
==See also==
*'''''[[Leisure]]'''''
[[Category: Sociology]]
