"broken vessel" meaning in English

See broken vessel in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-broken vessel.ogg Forms: broken vessels [plural]
Etymology: From Old Testament symbolism that people are like clay vessels. Head templates: {{en-noun}} broken vessel (plural broken vessels)
  1. (idiomatic, biblical) A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Bible, Christianity, People Related terms: potsherd
    Sense id: en-broken_vessel-en-noun-KLupdPY9 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Topics: biblical, lifestyle, religion

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From Old Testament symbolism that people are like clay vessels.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "broken vessels",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "broken vessel (plural broken vessels)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Bible",
          "orig": "en:Bible",
          "parents": [
            "Books",
            "Christianity",
            "Judaism",
            "Literature",
            "Mass media",
            "Abrahamism",
            "Culture",
            "Entertainment",
            "Writing",
            "Media",
            "Religion",
            "Society",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Christianity",
          "orig": "en:Christianity",
          "parents": [
            "Abrahamism",
            "Religion",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 31:12:",
          "text": "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000. Jill Alexander Essbaum, Kenosis (poem). Published in Heaven, University Press of New England, p. 48:http://books.google.com/books?id=vDQpQ8AzLPAC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22i+am+a+broken+vessel%22&source=web&ots=ZTM7SmiZUK&sig=sfLc4PEUu7-tAY4q63i8dIofxsE#PPA48,M1",
          "text": "I am a broken vessel, Lord\nrubble where a soul should be."
        },
        {
          "text": "2005. Kara Williamson, quote in Undisguised, the new project by singer/songwriter Kara Williamson, Your Guide to Christian Music, Gospel, Feb 4 2005.https://web.archive.org/web/20060529091348/http://christianmusic.about.com/od/upcomingreleases/a/aakaraWundisg.htm\nI’m a broken vessel—thankfully, God uses broken vessels."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken."
      ],
      "id": "en-broken_vessel-en-noun-KLupdPY9",
      "links": [
        [
          "biblical",
          "Bible"
        ],
        [
          "destroyed",
          "destroyed"
        ],
        [
          "forgotten",
          "forgotten"
        ],
        [
          "flawed",
          "flawed"
        ],
        [
          "broken",
          "broken"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, biblical) A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "potsherd"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biblical",
        "lifestyle",
        "religion"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-broken vessel.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e5/En-au-broken_vessel.ogg/En-au-broken_vessel.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/En-au-broken_vessel.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "broken vessel"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From Old Testament symbolism that people are like clay vessels.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "broken vessels",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "broken vessel (plural broken vessels)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "potsherd"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms derived from the Bible",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Bible",
        "en:Christianity",
        "en:People"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 31:12:",
          "text": "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000. Jill Alexander Essbaum, Kenosis (poem). Published in Heaven, University Press of New England, p. 48:http://books.google.com/books?id=vDQpQ8AzLPAC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22i+am+a+broken+vessel%22&source=web&ots=ZTM7SmiZUK&sig=sfLc4PEUu7-tAY4q63i8dIofxsE#PPA48,M1",
          "text": "I am a broken vessel, Lord\nrubble where a soul should be."
        },
        {
          "text": "2005. Kara Williamson, quote in Undisguised, the new project by singer/songwriter Kara Williamson, Your Guide to Christian Music, Gospel, Feb 4 2005.https://web.archive.org/web/20060529091348/http://christianmusic.about.com/od/upcomingreleases/a/aakaraWundisg.htm\nI’m a broken vessel—thankfully, God uses broken vessels."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "biblical",
          "Bible"
        ],
        [
          "destroyed",
          "destroyed"
        ],
        [
          "forgotten",
          "forgotten"
        ],
        [
          "flawed",
          "flawed"
        ],
        [
          "broken",
          "broken"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, biblical) A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biblical",
        "lifestyle",
        "religion"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-broken vessel.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e5/En-au-broken_vessel.ogg/En-au-broken_vessel.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/En-au-broken_vessel.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "broken vessel"
}

Download raw JSONL data for broken vessel meaning in English (2.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (f2d86ce and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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