Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to empty
Participle: emptied
Gerund: emptying
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | empty |
| you | empty |
| he;she;it | empties |
| we | empty |
| you | empty |
| they | empty |
Perfect
| I | have emptied |
| you | have emptied |
| he;she;it | has emptied |
| we | have emptied |
| you | have emptied |
| they | have emptied |
Past
| I | emptied |
| you | emptied |
| he;she;it | emptied |
| we | emptied |
| you | emptied |
| they | emptied |
Pluperfect
| I | had emptied |
| you | had emptied |
| he;she;it | had emptied |
| we | had emptied |
| you | had emptied |
| they | had emptied |
Future
| I | will empty |
| you | will empty |
| he;she;it | will empty |
| we | will empty |
| you | will empty |
| they | will empty |
Future Perfect
| I | will have emptied |
| you | will have emptied |
| he;she;it | will have emptied |
| we | will have emptied |
| you | will have emptied |
| they | will have emptied |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | empty |
| you | empty |
| he;she;it | empty |
| we | empty |
| you | empty |
| they | empty |
Perfect
| I | have emptied |
| you | have emptied |
| he;she;it | have emptied |
| we | have emptied |
| you | have emptied |
| they | have emptied |
Imperfect
| I | emptied |
| you | emptied |
| he;she;it | emptied |
| we | emptied |
| you | emptied |
| they | emptied |
Pluperfect
| I | had emptied |
| you | had emptied |
| he;she;it | had emptied |
| we | had emptied |
| you | had emptied |
| they | had emptied |
Conditional
Present
| I | would empty |
| you | would empty |
| he;she;it | would empty |
| we | would empty |
| you | would empty |
| they | would empty |
Perfect
| I | would have emptied |
| you | would have emptied |
| he;she;it | would have emptied |
| we | would have emptied |
| you | would have emptied |
| they | would have emptied |
Imperative
| you | empty |
| we | Let's empty |
| you | empty |
Verbs conjugated like 'empty'
accompany,
acetify,
acidify,
adsignify,
affy,
alacrify,
alkalify,
ally,
amnesty,
amplify,
angelify,
anglicify,
anglify,
apology,
apply,
arefy,
argufy,
astony,
atrophy,
avowtry, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'empty'
empte,
embay,
emery,
emit,
emote,
employ,
espy,
imply,
tempt,
adempt,
Additional Information
Etymology
1. O.E. æmettig "at leisure, not occupied, unmarried," from æmetta "leisure," from æ "not" + -metta, from motan "to have" (see might). The -p- is a euphonic insertion. Sense evolution from "at leisure" to "empty" is paralleled in several languages, cf. Mod.Gk. adeios "empty," originally "freedom from fear," from deios "fear." "The adj. adeios must have been applied first to persons who enjoyed freedom from duties, leisure, and so were unoccupied, whence it was extended to objects that were unoccupied" [Buck]. The adj. also became the v. in 16c., replacing M.E. empten, from O.E. geæmtigian. Figurative sense of empty-nester first attested 1987. Empty-handed attested from 1613.
2. From Middle English emty, amty, from Old English ǣmtiġ, ǣmettiġ (“vacant, empty, free, idle, unmarried”, literally “without must or obligation, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + Proto-Germanic *mōtijô, *mōtô (“must, obligation, need”), *mōtiþô (“ability, accommodation”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“measure; to acquire, possess, be in command”). Related to Old English ġeǣmtigian (“to empty”), ǣmetta (“leisure”), mōtan (“can, to be allowed”). More at mote, meet.
3. The interconsonantal excrescent p is a euphonic insertion dating from Middle English.
Sample Sentences
-
to empty a well or a cistern
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The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.
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The suspected thief was requested to empty her pockets.
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If the clouds be full of raine, they emptie themselues vpon the earth[…] [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 11:3:]
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He saddens, all the magic light
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Dies off at once from bower and hall,
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And all the place is dark, and all
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The chambers emptied of delight: […] [1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto VIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:]
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It's a 58-minute journey with seven intermediate stops, including a reversal at Cromer - another popular destination. The train starts to empty at North Walsham, and then there is an exodus at Cromer. The coach is almost empty for the final few miles into Sheringham. [2025 October 15, 'Mystery Shopper', “About Anglia... and high scores”, in RAIL, number 1046, page 54:]
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Salmon River empties on the W shore about 2 miles below Bear River.
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Of these the Rhine empties into the Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine. [1899 [2nd century], Horace White, transl., Appian:]