empty
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/
Adjective

empty (comparative emptier, superlative emptiest)

  1. 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.
  2. (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
    Antonyms: 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.
    • 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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Exodus 3:21 ↗:
      And I will giue this people fauour in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall come to passe that when ye goe, ye shall not goe empty:
  5. 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.
  6. 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;
  7. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
    empty dreams
  8. 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?
  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
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Genesis 41:27 ↗:
      […] and the seuen emptie eares blasted with the East wind […]
  11. Hungry.
Translations Verb

empty (empties, present participle emptying; simple past and past participle emptied)

  1. (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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Ecclesiastes 11:3 ↗:
      If the clouds be full of raine, they emptie themselues vpon the earth […]
    • 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: […]
  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.
Antonyms Translations Noun

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.
Translations


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
Offline English dictionary