void | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

52 entries found.

late 14c., "gaping void; empty, immeasurable space," from Old French chaos (14c.) or directly from Latin chaos, from Greek khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, that which is vast and empty," from *khnwos, from PIE root *ghieh- "to yawn, gape, be wide open."

Meaning "utter confusion" (c. 1600) is an extended sense from theological use of chaos in the Vulgate version of "Genesis" (1530s in English) for "the void at the beginning of creation, the confused, formless, elementary state of the universe." The Greek for "disorder" was tarakhe, but the use of chaos here was rooted in Hesiod ("Theogony"), who describes khaos as the primeval emptiness of the Universe, and in Ovid ("Metamorphoses"), who opposes Khaos to Kosmos, "the ordered Universe." Sometimes it was personified as a god, begetter of Erebus and Nyx ("Night").

Meaning "orderless confusion" in human affairs is from c. 1600. Chaos theory in the modern mathematical sense is attested from c. 1977.

evanescent (adj.)

1717, "on the point of becoming imperceptible," from French évanescent, from Latin evanescentem (nominative evanescens), present participle of evanescere "disappear, vanish, pass away," figuratively "be forgotten, be wasted," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + vanescere "vanish," inchoative verb from vanus "empty, void" (from PIE *wano-, suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out"). Sense of "quickly vanishing, having no permanence" is by 1738.

vaunt (v.)

early 15c., "speak vainly or proudly," from Anglo-French vaunter, Old French vanter "to praise, speak highly of," from Medieval Latin vanitare "to boast," frequentative of Latin vanare "to utter empty words," from vanus "empty, void," figuratively "idle, fruitless," from PIE *wano-, suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Also short for avaunten "to boast" (see vaunt (n.)). Related: Vaunted; vaunting.

vanish (v.)

"disappear quickly," c. 1300, from shortened form of esvaniss-, stem of Old French esvanir "disappear; cause to disappear," from Vulgar Latin *exvanire, from Latin evanescere "disappear, pass away, die out," from ex "out" (see ex-) + vanescere "vanish," inchoative verb from vanus "empty, void," from PIE *wano-, suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Related: Vanished; vanishing; vanishingly. Vanishing point in perspective drawing is recorded from 1797.

devoid (adj.)

"destitute, not possessing, lacking" (with of), c. 1400, shortening of devoided, past participle of obsolete Middle English verb devoiden "to remove, void, vacate" (c. 1300), from Old French desvuidier (12c., Modern French dévider) "to empty out, flush game from, unwind, let loose (an arrow)," from des- "out, away" (see dis-) + voider "to empty," from voide "empty," from Latin vocivos "unoccupied, vacant," related to vacare "be empty," from PIE *wak-, extended form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out."

vanity (n.)

c. 1200, "that which is vain, futile, or worthless," from Old French vanite "self-conceit; futility; lack of resolve" (12c.), from Latin vanitatem (nominative vanitas) "emptiness, aimlessness; falsity," figuratively "vainglory, foolish pride," from vanus "empty, void," figuratively "idle, fruitless," from PIE *wano-, suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Meaning "self-conceited" in English is attested from mid-14c. Vanity table is attested from 1936. Vanity Fair is from "Pilgrim's Progress" (1678).

insensible (adj.)

c. 1400, "lacking the power to feel with the senses, numb, dazed" (now rare in this meaning), from Late Latin insensibilis "that cannot be felt," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + sensibilis "having feeling: perceptible by the senses" (see sensible). Meaning "void of feeling, not susceptible to emotion or passion" is from 1610s. Meaning "incapable of being felt or perceived by the senses or the mind, so small or slight as to be imperceptible" is from late 14c. Compare insensate.

blank (adj.)

early 13c., "white, pale, colorless," from Old French blanc "white, shining," from Frankish *blank "white, gleaming," or some other Germanic source (compare Old Norse blakkr, Old English blanca "white horse;" Old High German blanc, blanch; German blank "shining, bright"), from Proto-Germanic *blangkaz "to shine, dazzle," extended form of PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."

Meaning "having empty spaces" evolved c. 1400. Sense of "void of expression" (a blank look) is from 1550s. Spanish blanco, Italian bianco are said to be from Germanic. Related: Blankly, blankness.

evacuate (v.)

1520s (trans.), from Latin evacuatus, past participle of evacuare "to empty, make void, nullify," used by Pliny in reference to the bowels, used figuratively in Late Latin for "clear out;" from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + vacuus "empty," from PIE *wak-, extended form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out."

Earliest sense in English is medical. Military use is by 1710. Meaning "remove inhabitants to safer ground" is from 1934. Intransitive sense is from 1630s; of civilian persons by 1900. Replaced Middle English evacuen "draw off or expel (humors) from the body" (c. 1400). Related: Evacuated; evacuating.

lacuna (n.)

"blank or missing portion in a manuscript," 1660s, from Latin lacuna "hole, pit," figuratively "a gap, void, want," diminutive of lacus "pond, lake; hollow, opening" (see lake (n.1)). The Latin plural is lacunae. The word has also been used in English from c. 1700 in the literal Latin sense in anatomy, zoology, botany. The adjectival forms have somewhat sorted themselves: Mathematics tends to use lacunary (1857), natural history lacunose (1816), and lacunar (n.) is used in architecture of paneled ceilings (1690s), so called for their sunken compartments. Leaving lacunal (1846) for the manuscript sense.

Page 4

Trending words