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Definition: Empty |
EmptyAdjective1. Holding or containing nothing; "an empty glass"; "an empty room"; "full of empty seats"; "empty hours". 2. Devoid of significance or point; "empty promises"; "a hollow victory"; "vacuous comments". 3. Having nothing inside; "an empty sphere". 4. Needing nourishment; "after skipped lunch the men were empty by suppertime"; "empty-bellied children". 5. Emptied of emotion; "after the violent argument he felt empty". Noun1. A container that has been emptied; "return all empties to the store". Verb1. Make void or empty of contents; "Empty the box"; "The alarm emptied the building". 2. Become empty or void of its content; "The room emptied". 3. Leave behind empty; move out of; "You must vacate your office by tonight". 4. Remove; "Empty the water". 5. Excrete or discharge from the body. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "empty" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Note: Empty \Emp"ty\, adjective. [Comparative Emptier; superlative Emptiest.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Mining | An empty car, truck, tub, box, or wagon. (references) |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: Empty. The Mississippi river flows, or discharges its water into the Gulf of Mexico, but it can not empty so long as any water remains in the river. Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In mathematics, the empty set is the set with no elements.
Notation
Here we will notate the empty set {}, but another notable notation, invented by Bourbaki is the symbolism or ∅, which is approximated sometimes by the glyph "Ø" and confused occasionally with the Greek letter "φ".Properties
(Here we use mathematical symbolss.)
We speak of "the empty set" rather than "an empty set": in set theory, two sets are equal if they have the same elements; therefore there can be only one set with no elements.
- For any set A, the empty set is a subset of A:
- ∀A: {} ⊆ A
- For any set A, the union of A with the empty set is A:
- ∀A: A ∪ {} = A
- For any set A, the intersection of A with the empty set is the empty set:
- ∀A: A ∩ {} = {}
- For any set A, the cartesian product of A and the empty set is empty:
- ∀A: A × {} = {}
- The only subset of the empty set is the empty set itself:
- ∀A: A ⊆ {} ⇒ A = {}
- The cardinality of the empty set is zero; in particular, the empty set is finite:
- |{}| = 0
Common problems
The empty set is not the same thing as "nothing"; it is a set with nothing in it, and a set is something. This often causes difficulty among those who first encounter it. It may stem, in part, from the gap between intuitive structures that are generally modelled by sets, such as piles of objects, and the formal definition of a set. For example, we would not speak of a "pile of zero dishes", yet we will happily speak of a "set of zero elements", the empty set. It may then be helpful to think of a set as a bag containing its elements; the empty set is an empty bag. Some people balk at the first property listed above, that the empty set is a subset of any set A. By the definition of subset, this claim means that for every element x of {}, x belongs to A. Since "every" is a strong word, we intuitively expect that it must be necessary to find many elements of {} that also belong to A, but of course, we can't find any elements of {}, period. So you might think that {} is not a subset of A after all. But in fact, "every" is not a strong word at all when it appears in the phrase "every element of {}". Since there are no elements of {}, "every element of {}" does not actually refer to anything, so any statement that begins "for every element of {}" is not making any substantive claim; it is a vacuous truth. This is often paraphrased as "everything is true of the elements of the empty set".
Axiomatic set theory
In the axiomatization of set theory known as Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, the existence of the empty set is assured by the axiom of empty set. The uniqueness of the empty set follows from the axiom of extensionality.
Does it exist or is it necessary?
While the empty set is a standard and universally accepted concept in mathematics, there are those who still entertain doubts.
Jonathan Lowe has argued that while the idea "was undoubtedly an important landmark in the history of mathematics, .. we should not assume that its utility in calculation is dependent upon its actually denoting some object". It is not clear that such an idea makes sense. "All that we are ever informed about the empty set is that it is (1) a set, (2) has no members, and (3) is unique amongst sets in having no members. However, there are very many things that ‘have no members’, in the set-theoretical sense — namely, all non-sets. It is perfectly clear why these things have no members, for they are not sets. What is unclear is how there can be, uniquely amongst sets, a set which has no members. We cannot conjure such an entity into existence by mere stipulation".
In "To be is to be the value of a variable …", Journal of Philosophy , 1984 (reprinted in his book Logic, Logic and Logic), the late George Boolos has argued that we can go a long way just by quantifying plurally over individuals, without reifying sets as singular entities having other entities as members.
In a recent book Tom McKay has disparaged the "singularist" assumption that natural expressions using plurals can be analysed using plural surrogates, such as signs for sets. He argues for an anti-singularist theory which differs from set theory in that there is no analogue of the empty set, and there is just one relation, among, that is an analogue of both the membership and the subset relation.
Operations on the empty set
Operations performed on the empty set (as a set of things to be operated upon) can also be confusing. (Such operations are nullary operations.) For example, the sum of the elements of the empty set is zero, but the product of the elements of the empty set is one (see empty product). This may seem odd, since there are no elements of the empty set, so how could it matter whether they are added or multiplied (since "they" don't exist)? Ultimately, the results of these operations say more about the operation in question than about the empty set. For instance, notice that zero is the identity element for addition, and one is the identity element for multiplication.
The empty set and zero
It was mentioned earlier that the empty set has zero elements, or that its cardinality is zero. The connection between the two concepts goes further however: in the standard set-theoretic definition of natural numbers, zero is defined as the empty set.
Category theory
If A is a set, then there exists precisely one function f from {} to A, the empty function. As a result, the empty set is the unique initial object of the category of sets and functions.
The empty set can be turned into a topological space in just one way (by defining the empty set to be open); this empty topological space is the unique initial object in the category of topological spaces with continuous maps.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Empty set."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Shunyata (Sanskrit, Sunyata Pali,: lit. Voidness, Emptiness) is a concept associated with Nagarjuna and the Madhyamika but has deeper roots in the tenet of Anatta (not-self) and Paticcasamuppada (Dependent Arising). It signifies the nonsubstantiality or lack of original nature of everything one encounters in life. Everything is inter-related and therefore not self-sufficient or independent; nothing has an independent reality.The scholar Walpola Rahula explains that once Ananda the attendant asked Gautama Buddha, "People say the word Sunya. What is Sunya?" The Buddha replied, "Ananda, there is no self, nor anything pertaining to self in this world. Therefore, the world is empty." This idea influenced Nagarjuna's philosophy when he wrote the text, Madhyamika Karika. Related to the concept of Sunyata is the notion of the store-consciousness in Mahayana Buddhism which has its seed in the Theravada texts. The Mahayana philosophers have developed it into a deep psychology and philosophy.
External Links
- Atman in Sunyata and the Sunyata of Atman An attempt to reconcile the alleged difference between Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta on the nature of the Self.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Shunyata."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| EMYCIN | English | Empty MYCIN | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: EmptySynonyms: empty-bellied (adj), hollow (adj), vacuous (adj), abandon (v), discharge (v), eliminate (v), evacuate (v), vacate (v), void (v). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: full (adj), fill (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Displacement | Unload, empty; (eject); transfer; dispel. |
Ignorance | Shallow, superficial, green, rude, empty, half-learned, illiterate; unread, uninformed, uneducated, unlearned, unlettered, unbookish; empty-headed,dizzy, wooly-headed; pedantic; |
Insufficiency | Slack, at a low ebb; empty, vacant, bare; short of, out of, devoid of, bereft of; denuded of; dry, drained. |
Inutility | Vain, empty, inane; gainless, profitless, fruitless; unserviceable, unprofitable; ill-spent; unproductive; hors de combat; effete, past work; (impaired); obsolete; (old); fit for the dust hole; good for nothing; of no earthly use; not worth having, not worth powder and shot; leading to no end, uncalled for; unnecessary, unneeded. |
Unsubstantiality | Vacant, vacuous; empty; eviscerated; blank, hollow; nominal; null; inane. |
Waste | Verb: spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust; impoverish; spill, drain, empty; disperse. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Empty |
| English words defined with "empty": empty of, empty talk, empty words. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "empty": David's empty cell test ♦ empty element tag, Empty Repo, empty track, empty trip. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "empty": Zero. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | But all my passion went with the golden hair, and all the spirit of preternatural flesh detached, unchangeable, empty. (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice) Oh, wake up, Norma, you'd be killing yourself to an empty house (Sunset Blvd.; writing credit: Charles Brackett) There's a tiny door in that empty office (Being John Malkovich; writing credit: Charlie Kaufman) But still, the place you live in is that much more gray and empty that they're gone (The Shawshank Redemption; writing credit: Frank Darabont) I needed him to treat me decently and get a job, and he needed to empty my bank account (City Slickers; writing credit: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and Billy Crystal) | |
Lyrics | My world is empty without you, baby (My World Is Empty Without You; performing artist: The Supremes) The state where ya never find a dance floor empty. (California Love; performing artist: 2 PAC) I'MMA RUN TILL I BUST MY GUN AND EMPTY THE CLIP (Come Back In One Piece; performing artist: Aaliyah) Though it will be empty without you (Can't Get Used To Losing You; performing artist: Andy Williams) I'm living in an empty room (Walking On Broken Glass; performing artist: Annie Lennox) | |
Clever | Sex without love is an empty gesture. But as empty gestures go, it is one of the best. (references; author: Woody Allen) When in doubt, empty the magazine. (references; author: unknown) If God didn't forgive, Heaven would be empty. (references; author: unknown) When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty. (references; author: unknown) Vacuum: A large, empty space where the pope lives. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Hell Is Empty (1966) Half Empty Saddles (1958) Empty Holsters (1937) The Empty Saddle (1925) Empty Hands (1924) | |
Song Titles | RUNNIN' ON EMPTY (performing artist: JACKSON BROWN) Running On Empty (performing artist: Jackson Browne) My World Is Empty Without You (performing artist: The Supremes) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Transmission electron micrograph of herpes simplex virus. Some nucleocapsids are empty, as shown by penetration of electron-dense stain. Credit: CDC. |  | Young naturalist inspecting a horseshoe crab shell. The carapace was empty. If this was a live animal, picking up by tail could cause injury to the crab. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Haulback was too large to lift up and empty onto sorting table. Thus emptied on deck. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | A dredge haul including live clams and empty shells. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | Lee Crockett ad Ed Townsend untie the end of the otter trawl to empty the catch into collection buckets. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | Two volunteers empty clams from the mother vessel into the waters of the spawner sanctuaries outside Greenwich Bay and Sakonnet River, RI. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | Agricultural Research Service scientists are looking hard at possible links between agricultural practices and problems in marine environments such as the Chesapeake Bay. Many rivers empty into this 200-mile-long inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer.. |  | A young lady attempting to get through yellow starthistle to empty garbage at Pit River, California. Credit: Jerry Asher. |
 | [Question mark formed by blue dots filled with writing, the base of the "?" is an empty box]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Lieutenant Robert S. Selby, USN, shoots the sun with a sextant, while standing in one of the ship's 40mm gun tubs, April 1945. The ship is in Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, with several PBM seaplanes moored in the distance. Photographed by Ensign Thomas Binford, USNR. Note 40mm gun barrels overhead, and ready-service ammunition racks around the gun tub perimeter, some empty and some containing four-round clips of 40mm ammunition. Credit: NAVY. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Empty" by Oliver L. Kuy Commentary: "Digital Painting by Oliver Kuy." | "Empty Chairs and Sunset" by Jeremy Lounds Commentary: "Two empty lawn chairs overlooking a calm, surreal Lake Superior, Michigan." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Adding ice to an empty glass. | | Coin being dropped into an empty jar and bouncing on the glass. |
| Someone blowing air into an empty bottle. | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Benjamin Franklin | It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright. |
Benjamin Whichcote | None are so empty as those who are full of themselves. |
John Dryden | War, he sung, is toil and trouble; Honor but an empty bubble. |
Nicholas Breton | I wish my deadly foe, no worse than want of fiends, and empty purse. |
Samuel Butler | An empty house is like a stray dog or a body from which life has departed. |
Seneca | The courts of kings are full of people, but empty of friends. |
William Cowper | No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach. |
William Shakespeare | The empty vessel makes the loudest sound. |
| The saying is true, "The empty vessel makes the greatest sound." | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Sylvie and Bruno | Carroll, Lewis | The Chancellor took it haughtily, drank it off thoughtfully, smiled benevolently on the happy waiter as he set down the empty glass, and began |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | His purse was very empty at the time, and would not permit any better conveyance |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | The refectory was half empty and the fellows were still passing out in file |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | They know when a house is empty, they know |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | My house was not empty though I was gone |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | To urinate, empty the bladder. (references) | |
Fasting hypoglycemia occurs when the stomach is empty. (references) | ||
The radiologist may also take an x-ray of the empty colon afterwards. (references) | ||
Business | This, too, tends to be an empty market. (references) | |
In recent years, storage halls were empty throughout the construction season. (references) | ||
They have no security equipment or use only basic mechanical protection (i.e. steel bars, padlocks or an empty siren boxes). (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Mexico | In September authorities found their empty vehicle. (references) |
Economic History | South Korea | During the May 1999 visit to the suspect underground construction site, the U.S. team found a large, empty underground tunnel complex. (references) |
Niger | In January 2000, Niger's newly elected government inherited serious financial and economic problems including a virtually empty treasury, past-due salaries (11 months of arrears) and scholarship payments, increased debt, reduced revenue performance, and lower public investment. (references) | |
Human Rights | Haiti | Examining magistrates often receive files that are empty or are missing police reports. (references) |
Mexico | On November 25, their bodies were found in an empty lot in a highly populated area of the city. (references) | |
Brazil | His first actions were to empty the most problematic FEBEM facility, Parelheiros, and follow up on complaints of maltreatment by both FEBEM guards and inmates. (references) | |
Political Rights | Turkmenistan | Diplomatic observers noted many empty polling stations, extensive use of mobile ballot boxes, and numerous instances of family voting. (references) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | To protest the new rules, the HDZ refused to participate in the selection of Federation House of Peoples delegates, leaving 21 seats in the 80-member body empty. (references) | |
Trade | Lebanon | The Higher Council for Customs approves temporary entry permits to products used for experiments or projects implemented in Lebanon, products for personal use, or empty bags and envelopes used to carry products outside Lebanon. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ERUDITION, n. Dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull. So wide his erudition's mighty span, He knew Creation's origin and plan And only came by accident to grief -- He thought, poor man, 'twas right to be a thief. Romach Pute |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Rush Limbaugh | Clinton did launch missiles at aspirin factories and empty terrorist camps during the Monica Lewinsky grand jury proceedings, but the goal there was to distract the people's attention from Monica Lewinsky's testimony, not to get bin Laden. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
James Monroe | 1817-1825 | Through the whole country from the northern extremity of Lake Erie to the Mississippi, and from all the waters which empty into each, finds and easy and direct communication to the seat of Government, and thence to the Atlantic. |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | We cannot afford to waste idle hours and empty plants while awaiting the end of the recession. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | The answer to where we stand on our national energy effort today reminds me of the old argument about whether the tank is half full or half empty. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Empty" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 93.75% of the time. "Empty" is used about 5,735 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 93.75% | 5,376 | 1,820 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 3.8% | 218 | 20,478 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.44% | 140 | 26,789 |
| Unclassified Items | 0.02% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 5,735 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "empty". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Bebai | N/A | Biblical | Empty |
| Ishbak | N/A | Biblical | Who is empty or exhausted |
| Maarath | N/A | Biblical | Making empty |
| Mearah | N/A | Biblical | Making empty |
| Rakkath | N/A | Biblical | Empty |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "empty": bayplan/stowage plan occupied and empty locations message ♦ be empty ♦ become empty ♦ beggarly account of empty boxes ♦ David's empty cell test ♦ empty bottle ♦ empty cachet of a kind suitable for pharmaceutical use ♦ empty capsule ♦ empty chair ♦ empty element tag ♦ empty handed ♦ empty headed ♦ empty life ♦ empty MYCIN ♦ empty name ♦ empty of ♦ empty out ♦ empty out briskly ♦ empty pate ♦ empty phrases ♦ empty promises ♦ Empty purse ♦ empty room ♦ Empty Sella Syndrome ♦ empty set ♦ empty show ♦ empty space ♦ empty state ♦ empty stomach ♦ empty street ♦ empty talk ♦ empty vessels make most noise ♦ empty word ♦ empty words ♦ feel empty ♦ half empty ♦ have an empty stomac ♦ on an empty stomach ♦ stand empty ♦ urgent need to empty the bowels ♦ weight empty ♦ with an empty stomach. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "empty": empty-bellied, empty-eyed, empty-glanded, empty-hand, empty-handed, empty-headed, empty-hearted, empty-looking, empty-shell, empty-sounding, empty-suited, empty-ward. | |
Ending with "empty": almost-empty, half-empty, near-empty, non-empty. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "empty"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | pap (void). (various references) | |
Albanian | zbrazet (pour, run out), zbraz (clear, clear out, deplenish, deplete, discharge, drain, draw, dump, effuse, empty out, evacuate, exhaust, flux, Lade, make a hole in, outpour, overrun, pour out, purge, shoot, tap, unload, unlock, void), send i zbrazët, i zbrazët (blank, hollow, vacant, vacuous, void), i uritur (esurient, famished, hollow, hungry, starveling), i thatë (arid, blain, dead, dehydrated, dried, dry, furuncle, lank, lathy, peaked, rainless, raw boned, scraggy, scrannel, scrawny, scrubby, sec, sere, short, skinny, slab-sided, slender, spare, spidery, thin, waterless, wizen, wizened), i pazënë (clear, free, loose, open, unoccupied, vacant, void), i pakuptim (absurd, inane, insignificant, meaningless, pointless, senseless, unnamed, vacuous), i lirë (at ease, available, brummagem, cheap, clear, disengaged, disposable, exempt, fetterless, footloose, free, frugal, inexpensive, loose, native, off, off duty, off-hour, open, quit, scotfree, twopenny, unattached, unbound, uncostly, uninhibited, unoccupied, vacant), boshatisem, boshatis (clean out, deplenish, evacuate, void), bosh (bare, bladdery, blank, fiddling, gassy, hollow, hot air, idle, inane, milk and water, open, thin, trifling, unoccupied, vacant, vacuous, void, white), çmbush (void). (various references) | |
Arabic | فارغ (idle), فارغ (barren, blank, flatulent, hollow, idle, inane, leisure, meaningless, pointless, senseless, silly, stupid, vacuous, vain, windy), فرغ (be empty, become empty, complete, conclude, discharge, drain, dry out, end, evacuate, finalize, finish, pour, terminate, vacate, void), سكب (casting, decant, infuse, infusion, melt down, mould, pour, pouring out, render, shed, slop, slosh), خلى (acetic, evacuate, lift, unhand, vacate), جائع (esurient, hungered, hungry, peckish, ravenous, starveling, starving), جرد (denude, deprive, dispossess, divest, inventory, oust, riffle, shear, stocking, strip, sucker, unclothe), أحمق (ass, barmy, berk, bonkers, brutish, childish, chuckle-head, chump, cuckoo, daft, empty headed, fantastic, fat, fathead, fatuous, foolish, footless, goofy, goon, haywire, idiotic, impolitic, imprudent, indiscreet, inept, injudicious, insensate, jerk, lemon, mad, meaningless, nit, nitwit, nonsensical, numskull, ornery, oyster, perverse, pointless, prat, screwball, senseless, sod, stupid, unwise, vacant, wacky, weak, weak-minded, whacky, witless, wood-headed, zany), أجرد (bald, bleak), شىء فارغ كزجاجة, بول (evacuate, evacuation, make water, micturition, pass water, pee, piddle, piss, urine, wee, wet). (various references) | |
Basque | huts (void). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | вливам се (disembogue, fall, flow, join, mouth, pour), опразвам (become empty, vacate), ненатоварен (loose, unstressed), немебелиран (unfurnished), незаета къща, безсъдържателен (idle, inane, insignificant, jejune, meager, meagre, pithless, sterile, unmeaning, vacuous, vain, watery), безлюден (deserted, desolate), пуст (bleak, desert, deserted, desolate, drear, harsh, inane, infernal, inhospitable, uncouth, uninhabited, vacant, vain, waste, wild, yeasty), празно такси, празен (airy, airy fairy, bare, barren, blank, hollow, idle, inane, light, loose, piffling, pithless, purposeless, sounding, superficial, uncharged, unsubstantial, untenanted, vacant, vacuous, vain, void, yeasty), изсипвам (send forth, shoot, spew, spill, tip out, unload), изпразвам се (move), изпразвам (clear out, deflate, deplenish, deplete, discharge, dismantle, eviscerate, exhaust, unload). (various references) | |
Catalan | buit (void). (various references) | |
Chinese | 空 (air, emptied, in vain, leisure, sky). (various references) | |
Czech | vyprázdnit (become empty, clean out, deplete, evacuate, exhaust, soak), vypít (drain, drink up, take), vylít (outpour, spill, turn out, unburden), vyklidit (clean out, clear out, dismantle, move out, vacate), vlévat se (discharge, open out), prázdný (bare, blank, clean, disused, hollow, inane, light, meaningless, unoccupied, vacant, vacuous, vapid, void, windy), planý (airy fairy, barren, false, fruitless, idle, sterile, wild), neobydlený (lone, uninhabited, unoccupied, unsettled, vacant, waste), neobsazený (free, unmanned, unoccupied, vacant), bezduchý (dull, nerveless, spiritless), ústit (vent). (various references) | |
Danish | tom (void), tømme. (various references) | |
Dutch | leeg (free, uninhabited, unoccupied, vacant, void), loos (false, void), lens (lens, void), ledig (void), hol (cave, cavern, cavity, concave, den, hollow, void). (various references) | |
Esperanto | malplenigi, malplena (void). (various references) | |
Faeroese | tómur (vacant, void). (various references) | |
Farsi | پوچ (Absurd, Airy, Hollow, Inane, Inoperative, Invalid, Nude, Nugatory, Sawdust, Unmeaning, Vacuous, Vain, Void), تهی شدن , تهی (Barren, Basic, Devoid, Hollow, Inane, Indigent, Jejune, Leer, Toom, Vacuous, Vain, Void), خالی کردن (Aspirate, Deplete, Discharge, Disgorge, Evacuate, Hollow, Purge, Vacate, Vent), خالی (Arid, Destitute, Indigent, Leer, Mere, Sunken, Unoccupied, Vacant, Vacuous, Void). (various references) | |
Finnish | tyhjä (bare, blank, devoid of, idle, vacant, vain, void). (various references) | |
French | vide (emptied, emptiness, empty space), vider, vidanger. (various references) | |
Frisian | leech (low, void). (various references) | |
German | leer (bare, blank, blankly, blanks, devoid, free, frothily, frothy, hollow, idle, no-op, specious, unseeing, untenanted, vacant, vacuous, vacuously, vain, vapid, void), ausleeren (drain, empty out, pour out, tip out, to empty, turn out), inhaltslos (hollow, lacking in content, meaningless, unsubstantial), entleeren (deflate, evacuate, to deflate, vacate, void). (various references) | |
Greek | στείρα (stem), ξενοίκιαστοσ (vacant), μη κυοφορούσα (barren, non-pregnant), άδειος (vacant), αδειάζω (clean out, clear, clear out, deplete, evacuate, unload, vacate), αδειανόσ (unoccupied, vacant, void). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | çmbush (void). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מבולק (desolate), לערות (decant, demolish, denude, expose, lay bare, pour out, raze, spill, strip, uncover), להתרוקן (drain), להוריק (pour out), להריק (draw out, pour out), לבקוק (destroy), לרוקן (deplete, drain, evacuate, strip, void), שומם (bleak, derelict, desolate, lonely), שדוף (blasted, scorched), פנוי (checkout, clearance, clearing, disengaged, evacuation, free, open, removal, unmarried, unoccupied, vacant), בוקק, ריקן (ignorant, illiterate, vain), ריק (blank, emptiness, vacant, vacuity, vacuum, vain, vanity, void), נעור (agitation, beating, dusting, shaken out, shaking off, stirred), נבוב (hollow). (various references) | |
Hungarian | üres (blank, claptrap, deaf, devoid, exhausted, expressionless, gassy, hollow, inane, lean, leer, leery, piffling, punk, vacant, vacuous, void). (various references) | |
Icelandic | tómur (void). (various references) | |
Indonesian | menuangkan (decant, pour, unbottle), mengosongkan (deplenish, vacate), gombal (false), gerohok (hollow), gabuk (childless, sterile). (various references) | |
Irish | folamh (void). (various references) | |
Italian | vuoto (bare, blank, blankness, devoid, emptiness, empty space, frothily, frothy, gap, hollow, shallow, space, vacancy, vacant, vacuous, vacuum, vide, void), vuotare (deplenish, deplete, dump, evacuate, exhaust, flush, rifle, turn out, void). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 空っぽ (hollow, vacant), エンジン発動機 (angel, angel baby, angelfish, embassy, emblem, emboss, embroidery, empathy, emperor, emphasis, emphasize, empire, Empire Day, Empire State Building, empress, emptiomania, empty nest, empty nest syndrome, end, end curler, end line, end user, -endian, ending, endive, endless, endless tape, endorphin, engine, engine stop, engineering plastics, enhancement, entasis, enter, enterprise, entertainer, entertainment, entitled, entity, entrance, entropy, entry, envelope, hit-and-run, two-base entitlement), 儚い (ephemeral, fickle, fleeting, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain), 果ない (ephemeral, fickle, fleeting, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain), 果敢ない (ephemeral, fickle, fleeting, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain), 果敢無い (ephemeral, fickle, fleeting, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain), 果無い (ephemeral, fickle, fleeting, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain), へぼ医者 (all over, being sticky, bloody fool!, blunder, bungle, chattering, clinging, closely, frivolous, gaffe, gooey, hard, hungry, messy, must, non-stop talking, prattling, quack doctor, shall, should, speaking indiscreetly, squished flat, sticky, thickly, to commit a blunder), 空ろ (blank, cavity, hollow), 虚しい (futile, ineffective, lifeless, vacant, vain, void), 空っぽ (hollow, vacant), 空しい (futile, ineffective, lifeless, vacant, vain, void), 空空 (vacant, void), 空空漠漠 (boundless, vague, vast), 真空 (hollow, vacuum), 虚ろ (blank, cavity, hollow), がらがら蛇 (deserted, emptiness, garbage, hollowness, jumble, odds and ends, pickled ginger, rattlesnake, sliced shouga prepared in vinegar served with sushi, to be deserted, to be empty, void). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | がらんと (deserted), くうくうばくばく (boundless, vague, vast), くうくう (vacant, void), しんくう (hollow, vacuum), べこべこ (hungry), うつろ (blank, cavity, hollow), からっぽ (hollow, vacant), むなしい (futile, ineffective, lifeless, vacant, vain, void), エンプティー , はかない (ephemeral, fickle, fleeting, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain). (various references) | |
Korean | 빈 (vacant). (various references) | |
Malay | leher (neck, void), kosong (void). (various references) | |
Manx | folmaghey (blow out, clear out, deflate, deflation, deplenish, depletion, discharge, drain, drink up, evacuation, hollow, unburden, vacate, void), follym (barren, barren as mind, blank, blank as cartridge, disengaged, empty-handed, expressionless, flat, formal, free, hollow, inane, platitudinous, run down, shallow, vacant, vacuous, void, waste, waste in town). (various references) | |
Norwegian | tom (inane, void). (various references) | |
Occitan | vuèg (void). (various references) | |
Papiamen | bashí (void). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | emptyay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vazio (addle, bare, blank, blankness, chasm, claptrap, concave, emptiness, hollow, inane, unoccupied, vacuity, vacuous, vacuum, vain, void), vácuo (chasm, emptiness, gap, vacancy, vacuum, void). (various references) | |
Romanian | goli (clean, clear, deplenish, deplete, drain, evacuate, exhaust, let out, relax, shoot, void), gol (abyss, bald, bare, bare-bodied, barren, blank, blankness, desert, deserted, gap, genuine, hollow, hollowness, inanity, leafless, naked, nakedly, nude, out at, shallow, stripped, uncovered, vacancy, vacuum, void, waste, windy). (various references) | |
Russian | пустой (addle, barren, blank, chaffy, do-nothing, feather-brained, feckless, fiddling, foppish, frivolous, frothy, gassy, gossipy, hollow, light, light-headed, null, sunken, vacant, vacuous, vapid). (various references) | |
Scottish | tràigh (beach, pour out, shore, strand, the shore), taosg (a pour, a rush out; exact full of, drain, pump), taom (a fit of rage, overflow, pour out), falamh, fàs (accrue, become, get, grow, hollow, increase, increasing, void, waste), caoch (blind, hollow). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | pust (bleak, desert, indocile, lonely, waste), prazno (vacantly), prazniti, prazna flaša, prazan (blank, clean, cored, idle, inane, leer, unoccupied, vacant, vacuous, void), isprazniti (become empty, clear out, empty out, evacuate, unload, vacate, void), iskapiti (drain, tope). (various references) | |
Spanish | vacío (bare, blank, devoid, dummy, emptiness, gap, hiatus, hollow, light, vacant, vacuous, vacuum, vast, void), vaciar (blow, blow out, bottle, clear out, deplete, draw off, embowel, hold back, hollow, pour away, pour off, run off, tap out, turn out, unpack, vacate, void). (various references) | |
Sranan | soso (free, void), popo (suck, void), leygi (void). (various references) | |
Swahili | -tupu (void), tupu (void). (various references) | |
Swedish | tom (bladdery, blank, clear, hollow, inane, vacant, vacuous, void), tömma (clear, clear out, deplenish, deplete, drain, drink, eviscerate, pour, vacate). (various references) | |
Turkish | boxalmak, aç (covetous, esurient, greedy for, hollow, hungry, ravenous, starveling, unfed), anlamsız (absurd, barren, blank, dead pan, expressionless, for the birds, frivolous, grotesque, inane, incoherent, inept, inexpressive, insane, insignificant, meaningless, nonsense, nonsensical, of no significance, pointless, purposeless, ridiculous, senseless, sodden, unmeaning, unreasonable, vacuous, vain, yeasty), boş (airy, barren, blank, bootless, captious, chimerical, desert, disengaged, expressionless, fallacious, flat, for hire, free, frivolous, frothy, futile, gaseous, hollow, idle, inane, ineffective, ineffectual, invalid, leisure, meaningless, nugatory, null, pointless, puerile, punk, purposeless, spare, tenantless, thin, trumpery, unbuilt, unbuilt-on, unengaged, unfounded, unoccupied, unprofitable, unrecorded, unwritten-on, vacant, vacuous, vain, void, waste, windy, wishywashy, without any foundation, without foundation, yeasty), boş kap, boşalma (climax, discharge, ejaculation, orgasm, shot), boşalmak (cream, cum, discharge, drain away, drain off, ejaculate, exhaust, run down, swell, teem), boşaltmak (bleed, clean, clean out, clear, clear out, close out, debus, deplenish, deplete, discharge, disgorge, dismantle, drain, drain away, drain off, draw off, drop off, dump, ejaculate, evacuate, excrete, exhaust, let off, pour, pour from, pour out of, quit, strip, teem, tip, tip out, tip over, turn out, unlade, unload, unpack, vacate, void), önemsiz (back burner, derisive, derisory, dinky, fiddling, footling, immaterial, inconsequential, inconsiderable, inconspicuous, indifferent, inessential, insignificant, jerkwater, minute, negligible, no-account, non essential, nonessential, not healthy, not worth a fig, null, of no account, of no significance, of no worth, one horse, paltry, paper, peanut, peddling, petty, picayune, picayunish, piddling, poky, potty, quotidian, scrubby, secondary, slight, small, smalltime, trifling, trivial, tuppeny, unessential, unimportant, unsubstantial, worthless, yeasty), box (free, unfit, unoccupied, unsuitable, vacant, void), yoksun (bankrupt in, bereft, destitute, devoid of, innocent of, out of, shorn, shorn of, unprovided, void of, wanting), boxaltmak, dökülmek (be poured, come off, course, disembogue, disgorge, drape, fall, fall into, fall into decay, fall off, fall out, feel cheap, flow, go to pieces, molder, moulder, Peel, peel off, pour, pour forth, pour out, rub off, run down, slop over, spill, teem, trail), dökmek (cast, deplenish, deplete, diffuse, dump, effuse, found, pour, pour from, pour out, pour out of, shed, shower, slop, slosh on, spill, teem, tip, tip over, unbosom), içeriksiz (meaningless, pithless, unsophisticated), içini çıkarmak (core, gut), içini boşaltmak (disburden, discharge oneself, open one's heart, relieve one's feelings), tahliye etmek (clear, clear out, close out, discharge, evacuate, free, quit, set free, strip, vacate, void), boşuna (for nothing, frantic, gainless, in vain, needless, no dice, no go, no good, of no avail, otiose, to no avail, to no end, unavailing, unnecessarily, useless, vainly). (various references) | |
Turkmen | puз (hollow), pak, яьksьz, howaяy (vain, void), boюatmak (unload), boю (free, unused). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | спорожняти (deplenish, quaff, tilt, tip out, void), вивантажувати (disembark, dump, shore, unship), виливати (cast, drip, effuse, outpour, pour out, spout), нежилий, беззмістовний (bald, barren, blank, inane, insignificant, matterless, sapless, vapid), пустий (addle, airy, bald, bare, barren, baseless, begging, chaffy, frothy, otiose, sounding, vacant, vacuous, vain, void, yeasty), порожній (bare, hollow, inane, unoccupied, vacuous), порожня тара. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | trống không, trống (vacant, void), rỗng (bare, fustian, high-sounding, vacuous), không rỗng. (various references) | |
Welsh | gweili (idle), gwehynnu (draw, pour), gwagu, gwag (addle, blank, vacant, vain), gwaca/u, dihysbyddu (exhaust), coeg (blind, one-eyed, vain), arllwys (pour out). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | kislah. (various references) |
| Akkadian | 3000 BCE-Modern | maškanu. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | inanis, vacuus. (various references) |
| Arabic | 500-Modern | sifr. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Mark Chapter 12, Verse 3 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Oi de labonteV auton edeiran kai apesteilan kenon |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Qui adprehensum eum ceciderunt et dimiserunt vacuum |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þa swungen hyo þane & for-leten hineydel-hende. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And thei token hym, and beeten, and leften hym voide. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And they caught him and bet him and sent him agayne emptye. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And they caught him, and beat him and sent him away empty. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And they took him, and gave him blows, and sent him away with nothing. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Mark Chapter 12, Verse 3 |
| Cebuano | Apan kini siya ilang gidakop ug gibunalan, ug ilang gipapauli nga walay dala. |
| Chinese | 園 戶 拿 住 他 、 打 了 他 、 叫 他 空 手 回 去 。 |
| Croatian | A oni ga pograbiše, istukoše i otposlaše praznih ruku. |
| Danish | Og de grebe ham og sloge ham og sendte ham tomhændet bort. |
| Dutch | Maar zij namen en sloegen hem, en zonden hem ledig heen. |
| Finnish | Mutta he ottivat hänet kiinni, pieksivät ja lähettivät tyhjin käsin pois. |
| French | S`étant saisis de lui, ils le battirent, et le renvoyèrent à vide. |
| Gaelic | `Sa breith air, bhuail iad e, is chuir iad air falbh falamh e. |
| German | Sie nahmen ihn aber und stäupten ihn, und ließen ihn leer von sich. |
| Haitian Creole | Yo mete men sou domestik la, yo bat li byen bat, epi yo voye l' tounen bay mèt jaden an san yo pa ba l' anyen. |
| Hungarian | Azok pedig megfogván azt, megverék, és üresen küldék vissza. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Tetapi penggarap-penggarap itu menangkap pelayan itu. Kemudian mereka memukulnya, lalu menyuruh dia pulang dengan tangan kosong. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Lalu orang dusun itu memegangkan dia, memalu dan menghalaukan dia dengan hampanya. |
| Italian | Ma essi, afferratolo, lo bastonarono e lo rimandarono a mani vuote. |
| Maori | Na ka mau ratou ki a ia, a whiua ana, tonoa kautia atu ana. |
| Norwegian | og de tok og slo ham, og lot ham gå bort med tomme hender. |
| Portuguese | Mas estes, apoderando-se dele, o espancaram e o mandaram embora de mãos vazias. |
| Rumanian | Vierii au pus mkna pe el, l-au bqtut, wi l-au trimes knapoi cu mknile goale. |
| Russian | пОЙ ЦЕ, УИЧБФЙЧ ЕЗП, ВЙМЙ, Й ПФПУМБМЙ ОЙ У ЮЕН. |
| Shuar | Tura ajanam takau arma nu, nu takarniun achik, katsumkar, áyatik awainkiarmai. |
| Spanish | Pero ellos lo tomaron, lo hirieron y le enviaron con las manos vacías. |
| Swahili | Wale wakulima wakamkamata, wakampiga, wakamrudisha mikono mitupu. |
| Swedish | Men de togo fatt på honom och misshandlade honom och läto honom gå tomhänt tillbaka. |
| Uma | Tapi' to mpodoo bonea toera mpohoko' batua-na, rapao' pai' rapopalai mara. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "empty": emptying. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "empty": nonempty. (additional references) | |
| |
"Empty" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: emity, emmty, emp, Empat, empate, empaty, emphy, emply, empoy, empt, empti, emt, Emtb, enty, Epmd, eptu, hempty, impt, Meptid, mety, umpty. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "empty" (pronounced e"mptē or e"mtē) |
| 3 | -p t ē | Eucalypti. |
| 3 | -m t ē | vicomte. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-m-p-t-y" | |
-1 letter: temp, type. | |
-2 letters: met, pet, pye, tye, yep, yet. | |
-3 letters: em, et, me, my, pe, ye. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-m-p-t-y" | |
+2 letters: empathy, emptily, impiety, mistype, nymphet, payment. | |
+3 letters: emptying, mistyped, mistypes, monotype, nonempty, nymphets, payments, playmate, playtime, trumpery. | |
+4 letters: ambrotype, asymptote, champerty, copayment, empyemata, hypostome, impotency, mesophyte, monotypes, nymphette, optometry, palmately, pantrymen, paymaster, playmates, playtimes, pterygium, pyrethrum, pyrometer, pyrometry, repayment, spymaster, sympetaly, temporary, tympanies. | |
+5 letters: ambrotypes, asymptotes, competency, completely, complexity, copayments, deployment, employment, epiphytism, episiotomy, hemoptyses, hemoptysis, hermatypic, homeopathy, hypermeter, hypostomes, hypsometer, impolitely, impotently, impudently, lumpectomy, lymphocyte, macrophyte, malapertly, mesophytes, mesophytic, metaphysic, methyldopa, myelopathy, myopathies, mythopoeia, mythopoeic, nonpayment, nymphettes, nympholept, paymasters, peremptory, phlebotomy, photometry, pigmentary, plyometric, polytheism, poultrymen, preemptory, premycotic, prepayment, protoxylem, pterygiums, pycnometer, pyrethrums, pyrometers, pyrometric, redemptory, repayments, somatotype, spirometry, spymasters, stepfamily, sympathies, sympathise, sympathize, sympatries, temporally, temptingly, terpolymer, toponymies, tryptamine, tympanites. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Familiar 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Quotations: Speeches 15. Usage Frequency 16. Names: Derived from | 17. Expressions 18. Expressions: Internet 19. Translations: Modern 20. Translations: Ancient | 21. Bible Trace 22. Abbreviations 23. Acronyms 24. Derivations | 25. Rhymes 26. Anagrams 27. Bibliography |
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