hollow

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈhɒl.əʊ/, US /ˈhɑː.loʊ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English holh (“hollow place, hole, cave”), used as an adjective,^[2][3][4] obscurely related to hol (see hole),^[2][4][5] from a Germanic base Proto-Germanic *hul- that Etymonline traces to a root meaning to cover, conceal.^[3] The adjective use developed under the influence of the Old English adjective hol, hollow.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having a cavity within, not solid: before 1300 as holeh, about 1330 as holwe;^[2] about 1200 in Etymonline, the 12th century in Hoad.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, insincere or empty (hollow promises), is from the 1520s.^[3] The noun, a hollow place, is found in Old English (about 897) but not in Middle English, and reappears about 1550, with a valley or basin from 1553.^[2][6] The middle or depth of night or winter is from 1865.^[6] The verb, to make hollow, is from before 1400.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 897 – holh, a hollow (noun).^[2]
• before 1300 – hollow (adjective).^[2]
• before 1400 – to hollow (verb).^[2]
• 1520s – insincere.^[3]
• 1553 – a valley.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having an empty space inside; not solid.
2. Sunken or curved inward: hollow cheeks.
3. Of a sound, echoing, as from an empty place.
4. Without real value or sincerity: hollow promises.

Noun

1. A hole or empty space.
2. A small valley.

Verb

1. To make hollow, often with out.

Word family

• hollowly
• hollowness
• hollowware
• unhollow
• hollow-eyed
• hollow back
• hollow leg

Related words

• hole
• hell
• hull
• holster

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press