empty
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɛmp.ti/
ipa: /ˈɛm.ti/
rhymes: -ɛmpti
rhymes: -ɛmti
Forms: form: emptier
form: emptiest
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.
Senses: examples: text: an empty purse
text: an empty jug
text: an empty stomach
text: […] something in the little man's appearance suggested that he would be sufficiently attentive to his own comfort to choose the emptiest table.
ref: 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:
text: […] 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.
ref: 1970, Wilfrido D. Nolledo, chapter 19, in But for the Lovers, Dalkey Archive Press, page 165:
text: 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.
ref: 2011 October 23, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City”, in BBC Sport:
text: It's a 58-minute journey with seven intermediate stops, including a reversal at Cromer - another popular destination. The train starts to empty at North Walsham, and then there is an exodus at Cromer. The coach is almost empty for the final few miles into Sheringham.
ref: 2025 October 15, 'Mystery Shopper', “About Anglia... and high scores”, in RAIL, number 1046, page 54:
synonyms: word: unoccupied
word: clear
word: leer
word: toom
word: clean
antonyms: full
glosses: Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
antonyms: non-empty
glosses: Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
examples: text: And I ſhal finde you emptie of that fault,
 Right ioyfull of your reformation.
ref: 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:
text: 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;
ref: 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:
glosses: Free; clear; devoid; often with of.
examples: text: 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, […]
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [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:
text: I hope it remaines not vnkindly with your Lordſhip, that I return'd you an empty Meſſenger.
ref: c. 1605–1608 (date written), 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:
text: 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:
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 3:21:
glosses: Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
examples: text: empty words, or threats
text: empty offer
text: empty promises
text: […] words are but empty thanks; my future conduct best will speak my gratitude.
ref: 1697, Colley Cibber, Woman's Wit, act V, page 190:
glosses: Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
examples: text: empty pleasures
text: Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days,
 Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;
ref: 1713, [Alexander] Pope, Windsor-Forest. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 18:
glosses: Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
examples: text: empty dreams
glosses: Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
examples: text: empty brains
text: an empty coxcomb
text: 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?
ref: 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:
glosses: Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
examples: text: Empty cow rates have increased in recent years.
qualifier: especially cows and sheep
glosses: Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.
raw_tags: of some female animals
examples: text: an empty vine
text: […] and the seuen emptie eares blasted with the East wind[…]
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 41:27:
glosses: Producing nothing; unfruitful.
raw_tags: of a plant or tree
glosses: Hungry.
examples: text: Grotesquely vegetal, excessively oaked, empty wines were routinely produced in the mid-1980s. Since the late 1980s, however, the quality has soared.
ref: 1993, Robert M. Parker, Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, page 967:
topics: beverages
food
lifestyle
oenology
synonyms: hollow
glosses: Lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish.
Synonyms: word: empty
word: empty as a pauper's purse
word: empty as the tomb on Easter
word: clean
word: leer
word: toom
word: unfilled
word: vacant
word: vacuumlike
word: vacuous
word: void
Hypernyms: word: insubstantial
word: lacking
Hyponyms: word: bare
word: hollow
word: unfreighted
word: unfraught
word: unfurnished
word: uninhabited
word: unladen
word: unloaded
word: unstocked
word: unsupplied
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: come away empty
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: emptily
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: emptiness
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty as a pauper's purse
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty as the tomb on Easter
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty barrels make the most noise
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty base
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty calorie
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty cans make the most noise
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty canvas
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty chair
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty coaching stock
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty constructor
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-element tag
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty function
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty graph
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-handed
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-headed
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-hoofed
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: emptyish
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty leaf
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty letter
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty morph
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty morpheme
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty nest
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-nester
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty nester
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-nest syndrome
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty nest syndrome
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-net goal
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty net goal
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty netter
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty-netter
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty nose syndrome
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty out
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty page
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty phrase
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty product
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty set
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty sheet
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty signifier
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty space
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty stock working
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty string
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty suit
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty sum
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty the bench
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty threat
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty vessels make the most noise
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty vessels make the most sound
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty word
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: empty words
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: glass-half-empty
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: half empty
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: nonempty
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: on an empty stomach
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: the glass half-empty
sense: Terms derived from empty (adjective)
word: you can't pour from an empty cup
Related terms: word: ∅
word: ∅-
word: -∅
word: empty set