empty
Etymology
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Etymology
From Middle English emty, amty, from Old English ǣmtiġ, ǣmettiġ, from Proto-Germanic *uz- + Proto-Germanic *mōtijô, *mōtô, *mōtiþô, from Proto-Indo-European *med-.
The interconsonantal excrescent p is a euphonic insertion dating from Middle English.
Pronunciation- IPA: /ˈɛmp.ti/, /ˈɛm.ti/
empty (comparative emptier, superlative emptiest)
- Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
- Synonyms: unoccupied, clear, leer, toom, clean
- Antonyms: 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.
- (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
- Antonyms: non-empty
- (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;
- Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC ↗; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii ↗:
- I hope our Ladies treaſure and our owne,
May ſerue for ranſome to our liberties:
Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe,
That we may trauell into Siria, […]
- c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene vi], page 89 ↗:
- I hope it remaines not vnkindly with your Lordſhip, that I return'd you an empty Meſſenger.
- Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
- empty words, or threats
- empty offer
- empty promises
- 1697, Colley Cibber, Woman's Wit, act V, page 190:
- […] words are but empty thanks; my future conduct best will speak my gratitude.
- Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
- empty pleasures
- 1713, Alexander Pope, “Windsor-Forest. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC ↗, lines 429-430:
- Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days, / Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;
- Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
- empty dreams
- Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
- empty brains
- an empty coxcomb
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene vii], page 203 ↗, column 2:
- Art thou thus bolden'd man by thy diſtres? / Or elſe a rude deſpiſer of good manners, / That in ciuility thou ſeem'ſt ſo emptie?
- (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.
- (obsolete, of a plant or tree) Producing nothing; unfruitful.
- an empty vine
- Hungry.
empty (empties, present participle emptying; simple past and past participle emptied)
- (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to remove the contents of.
- Synonyms: void#Verb
- 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.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto VIII:
- He saddens, all the magic light
Dies off at once from bower and hall,
And all the place is dark, and all
The chambers emptied of delight: […]
- (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.
- French: vider
- German: leeren, entleeren, ausleeren, leer machen
- Italian: vuotare, svuotare
- Portuguese: esvaziar
- Russian: опустоша́ть
- Spanish: vaciar
empty (plural empties)
- (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.
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002