void
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /vɔɪd/
rhymes: -ɔɪd
Etymology: From Middle English voide, voyde, from Old French vuit, voide, vuide (modern vide), in turn from Vulgar Latin *vocitum, ultimately from Latin vacuus.
Senses: examples: text: I'll get me to a place more void.
ref: 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
text: And the earth was without forme, and voyd, and darkeneſſe was vpon the face of the deepe: and the Spirit of God mooued vpon the face of the waters.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 1:2, column 1:
text: c. 1619–22, Philip Massinger and John Fletcher, A Very Woman
I'll chain him in my study, that, at void hours, / I may run over the story of his country.
synonyms: word: vacant
word: unfilled
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
glosses: Containing nothing; empty; not occupied or filled.
examples: text: divers great offices that had been long void
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], Apophthegmes New and Old. […], London: […] Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Having no incumbent; unoccupied; said of offices etc.
examples: text: Suppoſe they be in number infinit,
Yet being voyd of Martiall diſcipline,
All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles: […]
Their careleſſe ſwords ſhal lanch their fellows throats
And make vs triumph in their ouerthrow.
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 II, scene ii:
text: He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 11:12:
text: I envy not in any moods
⁠The captive void of noble rage,
⁠The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods: […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 44:
synonyms: word: bereft of
word: destitute of
word: absent
word: awanting
word: bereft of
word: deficient of
word: deprived of
word: destitute of
word: devoid of
word: lacking
word: leer
word: robbed of
word: shorn of
word: stripped of
word: void of
word: wanting
glosses: Being without; destitute; devoid.
examples: text: [My word] shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 55:11:
text: I will make void the counsel of Judah.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremy 19:7:
synonyms: word: pointless
word: useless
word: bootless
word: futile
word: fruitless
word: gainless
word: idle
word: inane
word: ineffectual
word: inefficacious
word: inutile
word: pointless
word: profitless
word: purposeless
word: unavailing
word: unprofitable
word: unuseful
word: unutilizable
word: useless
word: vain
word: void
glosses: Not producing any effect; ineffectual; vain.
examples: text: null and void
text: Taiwan's government says that as the island has never been ruled by the People's Republic of China, its sovereignty claims are void.
ref: 2022 September 21, Martin Pollard, Ben Blanchard, “China willing to make utmost effort for peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan”, in Michael Perry, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 21 Sep 2022, Asia Pacific:
glosses: Of no legal force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification.
examples: text: And senseless words she gave, and sounding strain, / But senseless, lifeless! idol void and vain!
ref: 1728, Alexander Pope, “Book II”, in The Dunciad; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 231:
glosses: Containing no immaterial quality; destitute of mind or soul.
examples: text: In particular, the roll method is void — it has no return value.
ref: 2005, Craig Larman, Applying UML and patterns:
text: The return value can safely be ignored if it is a void function.
ref: 2007, Andrew Krause, Foundations of GTK+ Development:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: That does not return a value; being a procedure rather than a function.
raw_tags: of a function or method
topics: bridge
games
glosses: Having no cards in a particular suit.