empty

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈemp.ti/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English empti, emti,^[2] inherited from Old English ǣmtiġ, ǣmettig,^[2][3][4] formed from ǣmetta (“leisure, rest”) and the suffix -ig, the source of -y.^[2][5] Ǣmetta is perhaps from ǣ- “not, without” and -metta, related to mōtan “to have to”, the source of must,^[2][5] or, in the Oxford view, from mōt “meeting”, the source of moot.^[4][6] Watkins traces it to a Proto-Germanic *e-mot-ja-, from *mot- “ability, leisure”.^[7][8] The p is a sound inserted between m and t.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons, “at leisure, not occupied; also unmarried”: about 897, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care.^[9][2] The American Heritage notes that Old English Ic eom ǣmtig could mean “I am empty”, “I am unoccupied” or “I am unmarried”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The personal senses did not outlive Old English;^[9][8] the sense “containing nothing”, of a receptacle, and “vacant, unoccupied”, of a place, are from 971.^[9][2] The same change from “at leisure” to “empty” happened in other languages, as in Modern Greek ádeios.^[7] Of words, “destitute of force or effect”, it is from the mid-14th century.^[7] “Hungry” is from 1593,^[9] and of a farm animal, “not pregnant”, from 1900.^[9] The verb, from 1526 in Barnhart and the 1520s in Etymonline, replaced Middle English empten, from Old English geǣmtigian.^[2][7] The noun, an empty container, is from 1865, at first of barges, freight cars and mail bags.^[7] The proverb empty vessels make the most noise goes back to Lydgate in the 15th century,^[10] and empty-nester is from 1960.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 897 – at leisure; unmarried.^[9][2]
• 971 – containing nothing; vacant.^[9][2]
• mid-14th century – of words, without force.^[7]
• 15th century – empty vessels.^[10]
• 1526 – verb.^[2]
• 1593 – hungry.^[9]
• 1865 – noun, an empty container.^[7]
• 1960 – empty-nester.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Holding or containing nothing.
2. Having no occupants; vacant.
3. Lacking purpose, meaning or substance: empty promises.
4. (informal) Hungry.
5. Lacking; devoid: empty of meaning.
6. (mathematics) Having no members: the empty set.

Verb

1. To remove the contents of.
2. To pour out or transfer completely.
3. Of a river, to discharge its water: empties into the sea.

Noun

1. An empty bottle, can or other container.

Word family

• emptily
• emptiness
• emptier
• empty-handed
• empty-headed

Related words

• must
• moot

Usage notes

The American Heritage separates empty, for what is without contents or substance, as an empty box or empty promises, from vacant, for what is without an occupant or incumbent, as a vacant seat.^[11]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin