English
space
see also: Space
Etymology

From Middle English space, from Anglo-Norman space, variant of espace, espas et al.

Pronunciation Noun

space

  1. (heading) Unlimited or generalized extent, physical or otherwise.
    1. Distance between things. [from 14thc.]
      Synonyms: break, gap, Thesaurus:interspace
      • c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii], page 347 ↗, column 2:
        But neere him, thy Angell / Becomes a feare: as being o're-powr'd, therefore / Make ſpace enough betweene you.
    2. Physical extent across two or three dimensions (sometimes for or to do something). [from 14thc.]
      Synonyms: area, volume
      • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii], page 364 ↗, column 1:
        O God, I could be bounded in a nutſhell, and / count my ſelfe a King of infinite ſpace; were it not that / I haue bad dreames.
    3. Physical extent in all directions, seen as an attribute of the universe (now usually considered as a part of space-time), or a mathematical model of this. [from 17thc.]
      • 1656, Thomas Hobbes, Elements of Philosophy, section II:
        Space is the Phantasme of a Thing existing without the Mind simply.
    4. The near-vacuum in which planets, stars and other celestial objects are situated; the universe beyond the earth's atmosphere. [from 17thc.]
      Synonyms: outer space
      the first man in space
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII ↗”, 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 86–90:
        How firſt began this Heav'n which we behold / Diſtant ſo high, with moving Fires adornd / Innumerable, and this which yeelds or fills / All ſpace, the ambient Aire wide interfus'd / Imbracing round this florid Earth, […]
      • 1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, […], published 1901, →OCLC ↗:
        After all, to go into outer space is not so much worse, if at all, than a polar expedition.
    5. The physical and psychological area one needs within which to live or operate; personal freedom. [from 20thc.]
      • 1996, Linda Brodkey, Writing Permitted in Designated Areas Only:
        Around the time of my parents' divorce, I learned that reading could also give me space.
      • 2008, Jimmy Treigle, Walking on Water:
        "I care about you Billy, whether you believe it or not; but right now I need my space."
  2. (heading) Of time.
    1. (now, rare, archaic) Free time; leisure, opportunity. [from 14thc.]
      Synonyms: leisure time, spare time
      • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All's Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i], page 245 ↗, column 2:
        Come on, thou are granted ſpace.
    2. A specific (specified) period of time. [from 14thc.]
      Synonyms: duration, span, Thesaurus:period
      • 1893, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Giles Corey:
        I pray you, sirs, to take some cheers the while I go for a moment's space to my poor afflicted child.
    3. An undefined period of time (without qualifier, especially a short period); a while. [from 15thc.]
      Synonyms: spell, while, Thesaurus:uncertain period
      • 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN:
        Even Comrade Butt cast off his gloom for a space and immersed his whole being in scrambled eggs.
  3. (heading) A bounded or specific extent, physical or otherwise.
    1. A (chiefly empty) area or volume with set limits or boundaries. [from 14thc.]
      • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
        Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
      • 2000, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Islam and Gender:
        The street door was open, and we entered a narrow space with washing facilities, curtained off from the courtyard.
    2. (music) A position on the staff or stave bounded by lines. [from 15thc.]
      • 1849, Guillaume Louis Bocquillon-Wilhem, translated by John Pyke Hullah, Wilhelm's Method of Teaching Singing:
        The note next above Sol is La; La, therefore, stands in the 2nd space; Si, on the 3rd line, &c.
      • 1990, Sammy Nzioki, Music Time:
        The lines and spaces of the staff are named according to the first seven letters of the alphabet, that is, A B C D E F G.
    3. A gap in text between words, lines etc., or a digital character used to create such a gap. [from 16thc.]
      Synonyms: blank, gap, whitespace
      Hypernyms: punctuation mark
      • 1992, Sam H Ham, Environmental Interpretation:
        According to experts, a single line of text should rarely exceed about 50 characters (including letters and all the spaces between words).
      • 2005, Dr BR Kishore, Dynamic Business Letter Writing:
        It should be typed a space below the salutation : Dear Sir, Subject : Replacement of defective items.
    4. (metal type) A piece of metal type used to separate words, cast lower than other type so as not to take ink, especially one that is narrower than one en (compare quad). [from 17thc.]
      Synonyms: quad, quadrat
      • 1683, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, the Doctrine of Handy-Works. Applied to the art of Printing.‎[http://books.google.com/books?id=npQtAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA240&q=space+OR+spaces#PPA240,M1], volume 2, pages 240–1:
        If it be only a Single Letter or two that drops, he thruſts the end of his Bodkin between every Letter of that Word, till he comes to a Space: and then perhaps by forcing thoſe Letters closer, he may have room to put in another Space or a Thin Space; which if he cannot do, and he finds the Space ſtand Looſe in the Form; he with the Point of his Bodkin picks the Space up and bows it a little; which bowing makes the Letters on each ſide of the Space keep their parallel diſtance; for by its Spring it thruſts the Letters that were cloſed with the end of the Bodkin to their adjunct Letters, that needed no cloſing.
    5. A gap; an empty place. [from 17thc.]
      • 2004, Harry M Benshoff, editor, Queer Cinéma:
        Mainstream Hollywood would not cater to the taste for sexual sensation, which left a space for B-movies, including noir.
      • 2009, Barbara L. Lev, From Pink to Green:
        A horizontal scar filled the space on her chest where her right breast used to be.
    6. (geometry) A set of points, each of which is uniquely specified by a number (the dimensionality) of coordinates.
    7. (countable, mathematics) A generalized construct or set whose members have some property in common; typically there will be a geometric metaphor allowing these members to be viewed as "points". Often used with a restricting modifier describing the members (e.g. vector space), or indicating the inventor of the construct (e.g. Hilbert space). [from 20thc.]
      Functional analysis is best approached through a sound knowledge of Hilbert space theory.
    8. (countable, figuratively) A field, area, or sphere of activity or endeavour.
      innovation in the browser space
    9. Anything analogous to a physical space in which one can interact, such as an online chat room.
      • 2007, Jacob van Kokswijk, Digital Ego: Social and Legal Aspects of Virtual Identity, page 88:
        Communication in Internet chat spaces allows participants to communicate so freely in the relative safety of anonymity that they forget their privacy.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

space (spaces, present participle spacing; simple past and past participle spaced)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To roam, walk, wander.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.ii:
      But she as Fayes are wont, in priuie place / Did spend her dayes, and lov'd in forests wyld to space.
  2. (transitive) To set some distance apart.
    Faye had spaced the pots at 8-inch intervals on the windowsill.
    The cities are evenly spaced.
  3. To insert or utilise spaces in a written text.
    This paragraph seems badly spaced.
  4. To space out (become distracted, lose focus).
  5. (transitive, science fiction) To kill someone by ejecting them into outer space, usually without a space suit.
    The captain spaced the traitors.
  6. (intransitive, science fiction) To travel into and through outer space.
Related terms Translations
Space
Proper noun
  1. Surname.


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