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Added 2 October 2026

empty

/ˈɛm(p).ti/ adjective

In Latin: vacuus, inanis, cassus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about empty at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
an empty purse
Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
Free; clear; devoid; often with of.

verb

To make empty; to remove the contents of.
to empty a well or a cistern
Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.
Salmon River empties on the W shore about 2 miles below Bear River.

noun

A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
Put the empties out to be recycled.

Origin

From Middle English emty, amty, from Old English ǣmtiġ, ǣmettiġ (“vacant, empty, free, idle, unmarried”, literally “without must or obligation, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + Proto-Germanic *mōtijô, *mōtô (“must, obligation, need”), *mōtiþô (“ability, accommodation”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“measure; to acquire, possess, be in command”). Related to Old English ġeǣmtigian (“to empty”), ǣmetta (“leisure”), mōtan (“can, to be allowed”). More at mote, meet. The interconsonantal excrescent p is a euphonic insertion dating from Middle English.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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