Etymologically
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vacuus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈwa.ku.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvaː.ku.us][1]

Forms

vacuus (feminine vacua, neuter vacuum, superlative vacuissimus, adverb vacuē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from vacō “to be empty” with the suffix -uus, from Proto-Italic *wakowos.[1][2][3] Early forms include ⟨vocuus⟩, and Celsus has ⟨vacus⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of being free from something, and Lucretius, of emptiness.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant empty, containing nothing, as Caesar's empty camp, and as a noun vacuum the void, as in Lucretius; of the body it meant hungry, and of things in the underworld insubstantial.[2][5] It meant devoid of, free from, as in Plautus, empty-handed, blank, unobstructed, open, as in Virgil, and legally unencumbered.[2] It meant unoccupied, deserted, undefended, of a bed lonely, and of an office or a woman free, unattached.[2] Of time and persons it meant at leisure, as in Cicero, and of the mind free from cares.[2] Döderlein says inānis is the emptiness of what was full, vacuus of what is unoccupied.[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant void, of no effect, and as a noun a vacuum.[7][8] It survives in Spanish and Portuguese vago.[1] English vacuum was borrowed in the 1540s, and English vacuous in the 1640s.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of being free from something.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of emptiness and the void.[2][5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of leisure.[2][4]
  • 1540s – English vacuum is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Empty, (neuter as noun) the void.[2]
  2. Devoid (of), free (from).[2]
  3. Empty-handed; blank, bare.[2]
  4. Unobstructed, open.[2]
  5. Unencumbered (legally).[2]
  6. Unoccupied, vacant; undefended.[2]
  7. At leisure; free from cares.[2]

Word family

  • supervacuus
  • vacua
  • vacuē
  • vacuēfaciō
  • vacuitās
  • vacūnālis
  • vacuō
  • vacuum
  • supervacuāneus
  • supervacuē
  • supervacuitās
  • supervacuō
  • vacāns
  • vacanter
  • vacēfīō
  • vacīvus
  • vacō
  • inānis
  • English vacuum
  • English vacuous

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com