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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English voide, voyde, from Old French vuit, voide, vuide (modern vide), in turn from Late Latin vocitus, related to Latin vacuus (“empty”).
Adjective
void (not comparable)
- Containing nothing; empty; not occupied or filled.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :I'll get me to a place more void.
- c. 1619–22, Philip Massinger and John Fletcher, A Very Woman
- I'll chain him in my study, that, at void hours, / I may run over the story of his country.
- Having no incumbent; unoccupied; said of offices etc.
1625, Francis [Bacon], Apophthegmes New and Old. , London: Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker, , →OCLC:
- (with of) Being without; destitute; devoid.
c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:Suppoſe they be in number infinit,
Yet being voyd of Martiall diſcipline,
All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles: […]
Their careleſſe ſwords ſhal lanch their fellows throats
And make vs triumph in their ouerthrow.
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XXVII, page 44:I envy not in any moods
The captive void of noble rage,
The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods: […]
- Not producing any effect; ineffectual; vain.
- Of no legal force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification.
- null and void
2022 September 21, Martin Pollard, Ben Blanchard, “China willing to make utmost effort for peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan”, in Michael Perry, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 21 September 2022, Asia Pacific:Taiwan's government says that as the island has never been ruled by the People's Republic of China, its sovereignty claims are void.
- Containing no immaterial quality; destitute of mind or soul.
1728, Alexander Pope, “Book II”, in The Dunciad; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 231:And senseless words she gave, and sounding strain, / But senseless, lifeless! idol void and vain!
- (programming, of a function or method) That does not return a value; being a procedure rather than a function.
2005, Craig Larman, Applying UML and patterns:In particular, the roll method is void — it has no return value.
2007, Andrew Krause, Foundations of GTK+ Development:The return value can safely be ignored if it is a void function.
- (bridge) Having no cards in a particular suit.
Descendants
Translations
unoccupied
- Bulgarian: незает (bg) (nezaet), вакантен (bg) (vakanten)
- Dutch: leeg (nl), vacant (nl)
- Finnish: tyhjä (fi)
- French: vacant (fr), vide (fr)
- Georgian: დაუკავებელი (dauḳavebeli), ვაკანტური (vaḳanṭuri)
- German: leer (de)
- Hungarian: megüresedett (hu), megürült, el nem foglalt
- Italian: vuoto (it)
- Macedonian: сло́боден (slóboden), ва́кантен (vákanten), пра́зен (prázen)
- Maori: wātea
- Ottoman Turkish: بوش (boş), خالی (hali)
- Portuguese: vazio (pt) m, vazia (pt) f
- Russian: вакантный (ru) m (vakantnyj)
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not producing any effect; ineffectual; vain
having lost all legal validity
- Bulgarian: недействителен (bg) (nedejstvitelen)
- Dutch: ongeldig (nl), nietig (nl)
- Finnish: mitätön (fi)
- French: nul (fr), invalide (fr), caduc (fr)
- Georgian: არარა (arara), ბათილი (batili)
- German: ungültig (de), nichtig (de)
- Hungarian: érvénytelen (hu), semmis (hu)
- Indonesian: batal (id)
- Interlingua: nulle, invalide
- Italian: nullo (it), non valido
- Latin: irritus
- Macedonian: нева́жечки (nevážečki), неи́справен (neíspraven), недејстви́телен (nedejstvítelen)
- Maori: mārua, manakore
- Norwegian: ugyldig (no)
- Plautdietsch: onjeltich
- Polish: nieważny (pl) m
- Portuguese: nulo (pt) m, inválido (pt) m
- Romanian: nul (ro)
- Russian: недействительный (ru) m (nedejstvitelʹnyj)
- Spanish: nulo (es), inválido (es)
- Tagalog: walang-bisa
- Thai: โมฆะ (moo-ká)
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containing no immaterial quality
computing: not returning value
Noun
void (plural voids)
- An empty space; a vacuum.
Nobody has crossed the void since one man died trying three hundred years ago; it's high time we had another go.
1711, Alexander Pope, “Part II”, in An Essay on Criticism, lines 9–10; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 70:Pride, where Wit fails, steps in to our defence, / And fills up all the mighty void of Sense.
- (astronomy) An extended region of space containing no galaxies.
- (materials science) A collection of adjacent vacancies inside a crystal lattice.
- (fluid mechanics) A pocket of vapour inside a fluid flow, created by cavitation.
- (construction) An empty space between floors or walls, including false separations and planned gaps between a building and its facade.
- (Internet, humorous, endearing) A black cat.
My little void is so sweet sometimes.
- An empty place; A location that has nothing useful.
2022 December 14, Paul Stephen, “HS2's Dorothy starts to dig second tunnel bore”, in RAIL, number 972, page 23:From the logistics hub, the spoil will be taken by rail to Barrington in Cambridgeshire, Cliffe in Kent, and Rugby in Warwickshire. It will be used to fill voids at these locations which will then be used for housing developments.
- (bridge) The lack of cards in a particular suit.
- Coordinate terms: singleton, doubleton
Synonyms
- ((engineering) collection of vacancies): pore
- ((engineering) pocket of vapour in fluid): bubble
Hyponyms
- ((astronomy) An extended region of space containing no galaxies): Local Void
Derived terms
Translations
an empty space; a vacuum
- Bulgarian: празнина (bg) f (praznina), вакуум (bg) m (vakuum)
- Catalan: buit (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 空洞 (zh) (kōngdòng)
- Czech: prázdnota f
- Danish: tomrum n
- Dutch: vacuüm (nl), leegte (nl)
- Finnish: tyhjiö (fi), tyhjyys (fi)
- French: vide (fr) m, néant (fr) m
- Georgian: სიცარიელე (sicariele), ვაკუუმი (vaḳuumi)
- German: Leere (de) f, Vakuum (de) n
- Greek:
- Ancient: κενόν n (kenón)
- Hebrew: חָלָל (he) m (ẖalál), רִיק (he) m (riq)
- Hungarian: üresség (hu), űr (hu)
- Indonesian: hampa (id)
- Interlingua: vacuo
- Italian: vacuo (it) m, vuoto (it) m
- Japanese: 超空洞 (chō kūdō)
- Latin: lacūna (la) f
- Macedonian: пра́знина f (práznina), ва́куум m (vákuum)
- Maori: hemanga
- Norwegian: intet (no) n, tomhet m, vakuum (no) n, tomrom (no) n
- Polish: pustka (pl) f, próżnia (pl) f
- Portuguese: vazio (pt) m, vácuo (pt) m
- Romanian: vid (ro) n
- Russian: пустота́ (ru) f (pustotá)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: празнина f
- Latin: praznina (sh) f
- Slovene: praznina f
- Spanish: vacío (es) m
- Swedish: tomrum (sv) n
- Turkish: boşluk (tr)
- Yiddish: חלל m (kholel)
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astronomy: an extended region of space containing no galaxies
materials science: a collection of adjacent vacancies inside a crystal lattice
fluid mechanics: a pocket of vapour inside a fluid flow, created by cavitation
construction: an empty space between floors or walls, including false separations and planned gaps between a building and its facade
Verb
void (third-person singular simple present voids, present participle voiding, simple past and past participle voided)
- (transitive) To make invalid or worthless.
He voided the check and returned it.
1724, [Gilbert] Burnet, edited by , Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Ward , →OCLC:after they had voided the obligation of the oath he had taken
- (transitive, medicine) To empty.
void one’s bowels
- To throw or send out; to evacuate; to emit; to discharge.
to void excrement
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
1612, John Webster, The White Devil:With shovel, like a fury, voided out / The earth and scattered bones.
a. 1692, Isaac Barrow, The Danger and Mischief of Delaying Repentance:a watchful application of mind in voiding prejudices
- (intransitive, obsolete) To withdraw, depart.
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xvj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:BY than come in to the feld kynge Ban as fyers as a lyon […] / Ha a said kyng Lot we must be discomfyte / for yonder I see the moste valyaunt knyght of the world / and the man of the most renoume / for suche ij bretheren as is kyng Ban & kyng bors ar not lyuynge / wherfore we must nedes voyde or deye- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (transitive, obsolete) To remove the contents of; to make or leave vacant or empty; to quit; to leave.
to void a table
1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):If they will fight with us, bid them come down, / Or void the field.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to make invalid or worthless
- Bulgarian: анулирам (bg) (anuliram)
- Catalan: anul·lar (ca), invalidar (ca)
- Dutch: annuleren (nl), ongeldig maken
- Finnish: mitätöidä (fi)
- French: annuler (fr), résilier (fr), révoquer (fr)
- Georgian: გაბათილება (gabatileba), გაუქმება (gaukmeba)
- German: löschen (de), annullieren (de)
- Gothic: 𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (blauþjan)
- Greek:
- Ancient: ἀθετέω (athetéō)
- Hungarian: érvénytelenít (hu), megsemmisít (hu), felbont (hu)
- Indonesian: membatalkan (id)
- Interlingua: annullar, invalidar
- Irish: neamhnigh
- Italian: annullare (it), invalidare (it)
- Macedonian: по́ништи (póništi), анули́ра (anulíra)
- Norwegian: annulere, gjøre ugyldig
- Portuguese: anular (pt), invalidar (pt)
- Russian: аннулировать (ru) impf (annulirovatʹ)
- Spanish: anular (es), invalidar (es)
- Swedish: annullera (sv), upphäva (sv)
- Tagalog: waling-bisa
- Welsh: dirymu
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Etymology 2
Alteration of voidee.
Noun
void (plural voids)
- (now rare, historical) A voidee.
2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 68:Late on the final evening, as the customary ‘void’ – spiced wine and sweetmeats – was served, more elaborate disguisings in the great hall culminated in the release of a flock of white doves.
Anagrams
Indonesian
Etymology
From English void, from Middle English voide, voyde, from Old French vuit, voide, vuide (modern vide), in turn from a Late Latin vocitus, related to Latin vacuus (“empty”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
void
- (law) void: of no legal force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification.
Noun
void (plural void-void, first-person possessive voidku, second-person possessive voidmu, third-person possessive voidnya)
- (architecture) void: An empty space between floors or walls, including false separations and planned gaps between a building and its facade.
- Synonym: ruang hampa
Further reading
Middle French
Alternative forms
Verb
void
- third-person singular indicative present of veoir