empty | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

114 entries found.

"an empty thing" that was or is expected to be full, 1865, from empty (adj.). At first of barges, freight cars, mail pouches.

empty (v.)

1520s, from empty (adj.); replacing Middle English empten, from Old English geæmtigian. Related: Emptied; emptying.

empty (adj.)

c. 1200, from Old English æmettig, of persons, "at leisure, not occupied; unmarried" (senses now obsolete), also, of receptacles, "containing nothing," of places, "unoccupied," from æmetta "leisure."

Watkins explains it as from Proto-Germanic *e-mot-ja-, with a prefix of uncertain meaning + Germanic *mot- "ability, leisure," possibly from PIE root *med- "take appropriate measures." A sense evolution from "at leisure" to "containing nothing, unoccupied" is found in several languages, such as Modern Greek adeios "empty," originally "freedom from fear," from deios "fear." "The adj. adeios must have been applied first to persons who enjoyed freedom from duties, leisure, and so were unoccupied, whence it was extended to objects that were unoccupied" [Buck].

The -p- is a euphonic insertion. Of words, etc., "destitute of force or effect," mid-14c. Related: Emptier. The figurative sense of empty-nester is attested by 1960.

empty-handed (adj.)

"bringing nothing," 1610, from empty (adj.) + -handed.

emptiness (n.)

"the state of containing nothing," 1530s, from empty + -ness.

-ate (2)

verbal suffix for Latin verbs in -are, identical with -ate (1). Old English commonly made verbs from adjectives by adding a verbal ending to the word (such as gnornian "be sad, mourn," gnorn "sad, depressed"), but as the inflections wore off English words in late Old and early Middle English, there came to be no difference between the adjective and the verb in dry, empty, warm, etc. Thus accustomed to the identity of adjectival and verbal forms of a word, the English, when they began to expand their Latin-based vocabulary after c. 1500, simply made verbs from Latin past-participial adjectives without changing their form (such as aggravate, substantiate) and it became the custom that Latin verbs were Englished from their past participle stems.

*med-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "take appropriate measures."

It forms all or part of: accommodate; accommodation; commode; commodious; commodity; empty; immoderate; immodest; Medea; medical; medicament; medicaster; medicate; medication; medicine; medico; medico-; meditate; meditation; Medusa; meet (adj.) "proper, fitting;" mete (v.) "to allot;" modal; mode; model; moderate; modern; modest; modicum; modify; modular; modulate; module; modulation; mold (n.1) "hollow shape;" mood (n.2) "grammatical form indicating the function of a verb;" must (v.); premeditate; premeditation; remedial; remediation; remedy.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit midiur "I judge, estimate;" Avestan vi-mad- "physician;" Greek mēdomai "be mindful of," medesthai "think about," medein "to rule," medon "ruler;" Latin meditari "think or reflect on, consider," modus "measure, manner," modestus "moderate," modernus "modern," mederi "to heal, give medical attention to, cure;" Irish miduir "judge;" Welsh meddwl "mind, thinking;" Gothic miton, Old English metan "to measure out."

keno-

before vowels, ken-, word-forming element meaning "empty," from Greek kenos "empty," from PIE *ken- "empty."

teem (v.2)

"to flow copiously," early 14c., "to empty out" (transitive), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse toema "to empty," from tomr "empty," cognate with Old English tom (adj.) "empty, free from." The original notion is of "to empty a vessel," thus "to pour out." Intransitive sense of "to pour, flow, stream" is from 1828. Related: Teemed; teeming.

inane (adj.)

1660s, "empty, void," from Latin inanis or else a back-formation from inanity (q.v.). Sense of "silly, empty-headed" is from 1819. Related: Inanely. Bailey's Dictionary (1731) has inaniloquent "given to empty talk."

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