empty

== English == === Etymology === 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 dating from Middle English. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈɛmp.ti/, /ˈɛm.ti/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈemp.ti/, /ˈem.ti/ Hyphenation: emp‧ty Rhymes: -ɛmpti, -ɛmti === Adjective === empty (comparative emptier, superlative emptiest) Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant. Synonyms: unoccupied, clear, (obsolete) leer, (rare dialect) toom, clean; see also Thesaurus:empty Antonym: full (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value). Antonym: non-empty (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language. empty words, or threats empty offer empty promises Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy. (of some female animals, especially cows and sheep) Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season. (obsolete, of a plant or tree) Producing nothing; unfruitful. Hungry. (oenology) Lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish. Synonym: hollow ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === empty (third-person singular simple present empties, present participle emptying, simple past and past participle emptied) (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to remove the contents of. Synonyms: void, evacuate (intransitive) Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination. ==== Antonyms ==== fill ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === empty (plural empties) (chiefly in the plural) A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty. ==== Derived terms ==== run on empty ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== dead soldier === References === === Further reading === “empty”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “empty”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.