vacate (v.)

1640s, "to make void, to annul," from Latin vacatus, past participle of vacare "be empty, be void," from PIE *wak-, extended form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Meaning "to leave, give up, quit" (a place) is attested from 1791. Related: Vacated; vacating.

also from 1640s

Entries linking to vacate

*eue-

*euə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to leave, abandon, give out," with derivatives meaning "abandoned, lacking, empty."

It forms all or part of: avoid; devastation; devoid; evacuate; evanescent; vacant; vacate; vacation; vacuity; vacuole; vacuous; vacuum; vain; vanish; vanity; vaunt; void; wane; want; wanton; waste.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit una- "deficient;" Avestan va- "lack," Persian vang "empty, poor;" Armenian unain "empty;" Latin vacare "to be empty," vastus "empty, waste," vanus "empty, void," figuratively "idle, fruitless;" Old English wanian "to lessen," wan "deficient;" Old Norse vanta "to lack."

Trends of vacate

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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empty

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 uncertai

abandon

late 14c., "to give up (something) absolutely, relinquish control, give over utterly;" also reflexively, "surrender (oneself), yield (oneself) utterly" (to religion, fornication, etc.), from Old French abandonner "surrender, release; give freely, permit," also reflexive, "devote

revoke

mid-14c., revoken, "make a retraction, renounce," from Old French revoquer (13c.), from Latin revocare "rescind, call back," from re- "back" (see re-) + vocare "to call," which is related to vox (genitive vocis) "voice" (from PIE root *wekw- "to speak"). From late 14c. as "call b

devoid

(with of), c. 1400, shortening of devoided, past participle of obsolete Middle English verb devoiden "to remove, void, vacate...

renege

1540s, renegue, "deny, renounce, abandon" (archaic), from Medieval Latin renegare, from Latin re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + negare "to refuse" (from PIE root *ne- "not"). The meaning "change one's mind, go back on (one's word or promise)" is by 1784. OED iden

overturn

early 13c., of a wheel, "to rotate, roll over," from over- + turn (v.). Attested from c. 1300 in general transitive sense "to throw over violently;" figurative meaning "to ruin, destroy" is from late 14c. Of judicial decisions, "to reverse," it is attested from 1826. Related: Ove

discern

"perceive or recognize the difference or distinction between (two or more things);" also "distinguish (an object) with the eyes, see distinctly, behold;" also "perceive rationally, understand;" late 14c., from Old French discerner (13c.) "distinguish (between), separate" (by sift

rescind

"abrogate, annul, or revoke by authority, repeal," 1630s, from French rescinder "cancel; cut off" (15c.), and directly from Latin rescindere "annul, cancel, abolish, remove by cutting off," from re- "back" (see re-) + scindere "to cut, rend, tear asunder, split; split up, part, d

cancel

late 14c., "cross out with lines, draw lines across (something written) so as to deface," from Anglo-French and Old French canceler, from Latin cancellare "to make like a lattice," which in Late Latin took on especially a sense "cross out something written" by marking it with cro

leave

Old English læfan "to allow to remain in the same state or condition; to let remain, allow to survive; to have left (of a deceased person, in reference to heirs, etc.); to bequeath (a heritage)," from Proto-Germanic *laibjanan (source also of Old Frisian leva "to leave," Old Saxo

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updated on September 28, 2017

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