Wordul · all words

adjective · 2 syllables · /'ɛmp.ti/

EMPTY

What does "EMPTY" mean?

Containing nothing; having no contents, occupants, or substance.

Meanings

  1. Holding or containing nothing. The fridge was completely empty by Sunday night.
  2. Lacking meaning, value, or feeling. His apology felt empty and rehearsed. figurative
  3. To remove all the contents of something. Please empty the bins before you leave.
  4. An empty container, especially a bottle (chiefly informal). He took the empties back for the deposit. informal

Did you know?

  • The 'p' in 'empty' was never in the original word - Old English 'aemettig' had no 'p'; the sound crept in because the mouth produces a 'p' as it moves from 'm' to 't', the same accident that makes some people say 'hampster'.

Word origin

From Old English 'aemettig' (at leisure, unoccupied, vacant), from 'aemetta' (leisure); the 'p' was inserted later between 'm' and 't' for ease of pronunciation.

Remember it

EMPTY: imagine the box says 'M T' - say those two letters and you hear 'empty'.

A little poem

The cup holds nothing-
but nothing is the one thing
you can still fill up.

haiku

Wordplay

  • How do you say 'empty' using only letters? M-T - the box that's all initials and no contents.

What it teaches

An empty vessel is not useless - it is the only kind that can still be filled.

Quick facts

What does EMPTY mean?

Containing nothing; having no contents, occupants, or substance.

Is EMPTY a valid word?

Yes — EMPTY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is EMPTY?

EMPTY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does EMPTY come from?

From Old English 'aemettig' (at leisure, unoccupied, vacant), from 'aemetta' (leisure); the 'p' was inserted later between 'm' and 't' for ease of pronunciation.

What can EMPTY teach us?

An empty vessel is not useless - it is the only kind that can still be filled.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

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