Wiktionary

empty

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English emty, amty, from Old English ǣmtiġ, ǣmettiġ (“vacant, empty, free, idle, unmarried”, literally “without must or obligation, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + Proto-Germanic *mōtijô, *mōtô (“must, obligation, need”), *mōtiþô (“ability, accommodation”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“measure; to acquire, possess, be in command”). Related to Old English ġeǣmtigian (“to empty”), ǣmetta (“leisure”), mōtan (“can, to be allowed”). More at mote, meet.

The interconsonantal excrescent p is a euphonic insertion[1] dating from Middle English.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɛmp.ti/, /ˈɛm.ti/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛmpti, -ɛmti
  • Hyphenation: emp‧ty

Adjective

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empty (comparative emptier, superlative emptiest)

 
A man sitting in an empty room (1)
  1. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
    Synonyms: unoccupied, clear, (obsolete) leer, (rare dialect) toom, clean; see also Thesaurus:empty
    Antonym: full
    an empty purse
    an empty jug
    an empty stomach
    • 1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 2, page 103:
      […] something in the little man's appearance suggested that he would be sufficiently attentive to his own comfort to choose the emptiest table.
    • 1970, Wilfrido D. Nolledo, chapter 19, in But for the Lovers, Dalkey Archive Press, page 165:
      […] San Sebastian Church was desolate in the courtyard; emptier, lonelier inside with its pews stretched out like fallen pylons varnished by dolorous residue. From each candlelit nook stared in stony despair one after another saint, regal and rueful: proffering forgiveness, peace, a todo.
    • 2011 October 23, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      United's stature is such that one result must not bring the immediate announcement of a shift in the balance of power in Manchester - but the swathes of empty seats around Old Trafford and the wave of attacks pouring towards David de Gea's goal in the second half emphasised that City quite simply have greater firepower and talent in their squad at present.
  2. (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
    Antonym: non-empty
  3. (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of.
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 144:
      And I ſhal finde you emptie of that fault,
      Right ioyfull of your reformation.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 614-617:
      For that fair femal Troop thou sawst, that seemd
      Of Goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay,
      Yet empty of all good wherein consists
      Womans domestic honour and chief praise;
  4. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
  5. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
    empty words, or threats
    empty offer
    empty promises
    • 1697, Colley Cibber, Woman's Wit‎[2], act V, page 190:
      […] words are but empty thanks; my future conduct best will speak my gratitude.
  6. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
    empty pleasures
  7. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
    empty dreams
  8. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
    empty brains
    an empty coxcomb
  9. (of some female animals, especially cows and sheep) Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.
    Empty cow rates have increased in recent years.
  10. (obsolete, of a plant or tree) Producing nothing; unfruitful.
    an empty vine
  11. Hungry.
  12. (oenology) Lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish.
    Synonym: hollow
    • 1993, Robert M. Parker, Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, page 967:
      Grotesquely vegetal, excessively oaked, empty wines were routinely produced in the mid-1980s. Since the late 1980s, however, the quality has soared.

Derived terms

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Terms derived from empty (adjective)

Translations

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devoid of content

Verb

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empty (third-person singular simple present empties, present participle emptying, simple past and past participle emptied)

  1. (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to remove the contents of.
    Synonym: void
    to empty a well or a cistern
    The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.
    The suspected thief was requested to empty her pockets.
  2. (intransitive) Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.
    Salmon River empties on the W shore about 2 miles below Bear River.
    • 1899 [2nd century], Horace White, transl., Appian:
      Of these the Rhine empties into the Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine.

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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empty (plural empties)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
    Put the empties out to be recycled.
    • 1960, The Iron and Coal Trades' Review - Volume 180, page 1411:
      A shaft runround was made to conduct the empties from the tippler to the empty side of the shaft where they would rejoin the old circuit.
    • 2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN:
      In 1960 Willem de Kooning said of [Leo] Castelli, ‘That son of a bitch, you could give him two beer cans and he could sell them.’ [Jasper] Johns laughed and created a sculpture of two Ballantine Ale empties. Castelli immediately sold the work to collectors Robert and Ethel Scull.
    • 2019 October, Steve Stubbs, photo caption, “'60' on the stone”, in Modern Railways, page 20:
      A number of locomotives have been drafted into the area to cover the traction shortfall, including two Class 60s: here No 60039 accelerates away from Eastleigh on the Chandlers Ford branch with the lunchtime Fareham to Whatley quarry empties [empty wagons] on 20 August 2019.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “empty”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

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