void English · revision 10531

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=xno voide|origins=la-vul *vocitus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vɔɪd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is, through Anglo-French, [[bor|fro|voide]], feminine of voit, empty, vast, hollow,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a dialect variant of Old French vuide (modern French vide),^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from Vulgar Latin [[m|la-vul|*vocitus]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) related to Latin vocīvus, vacīvus, empty, and to vacuus and vacāre, to be empty (see [[vacuum]] and [[vacant]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The verb is from Old French voider, to empty,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and partly a shortening of [[avoid]].^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Unoccupied, vacant: about 1300;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) first of a see or benefice with no holder, about 1290 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lacking or devoid of something is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and without legal force from about 1400,^(Etymonline) the 15th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) The noun, the empty expanse of space, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) an unfilled space or gap from 1616,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) absolute empty space from 1727, and a feeling of loss or emptiness from 1779.^(Etymonline) The verb, to empty, is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) to make legally invalid from the early 14th century, and to discharge from the body chiefly in medical use.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – unoccupied, vacant; to void (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – devoid; the void.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – legally invalid.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1616 – an empty space.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1779 – a sense of loss.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Containing nothing; [[empty]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Having no legal force; [[null]]: ''null and void''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Completely lacking: ''void of resources''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of an office or house, unoccupied.^(Collins 2023)

+ # In card games, having no cards of a suit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An empty space; a [[vacuum]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A feeling of emptiness or [[loss]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make invalid: ''to void a contract''.^(AHD)

+ # To [[excrete]] bodily waste.^(AHD)

+ # To empty or vacate.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[voider]]

+ * [[voidness]]

+ * [[nonvoid]]

+ * [[prevoid]]

+ * [[voidable]]

+ * [[null and void]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[avoid]]

+ * [[devoid]]

+ * [[vacant]]

+ * [[vacuum]]

+ * [[vacate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}