void

[void]

adjective

Law. having no legal force or effect; not legally binding or enforceable.

useless; ineffectual; vain.

devoid; destitute (usually followed by of): a life void of meaning.

without contents; empty.

without an incumbent, as an office.

Mathematics. (of a set) empty.

(in cards) having no cards in a suit.

noun

an empty space; emptiness: He disappeared into the void.

something experienced as a loss or privation: His death left a great void in her life.

a gap or opening, as in a wall.

a vacancy; vacuum.

Typography. counter³(def 10).

(in cards) lack of cards in a suit: a void in clubs.

verb (used with object)

to make ineffectual; invalidate; nullify: to void a check.

to empty; discharge; evacuate: to void excrement.

to clear or empty (often followed by of): to void a chamber of occupants.

Archaic. to depart from; vacate.

verb (used without object)

to defecate or urinate.

Origin of void

1250–1300; (adj.) Middle English voide < Anglo-French, Old French < Vulgar Latin *vocīta, feminine of *vocītus, dissimilated variant of Latin vocīvus, itself variant of vac(ī)vus empty; see vacuum; (v.) Middle English voiden < Anglo-French voider, Old French < Vulgar Latin *vocītāre, derivative of *vocītus; (noun) derivative of the adj.

Related formsvoid·ness, nounnon·void, adjective, nounpre·void, verb (used with object)un·void, adjectiveun·void·ness, noun

Synonyms for void

3, 4. See empty. 5. vacant, unoccupied. 8. vacuum.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for non-void

void

adjective

without contents; empty

not legally bindingnull and void

(of an office, house, position, etc) without an incumbent; unoccupied

(postpositive foll by of) destitute or devoidvoid of resources

having no effect; uselessall his efforts were rendered void

(of a card suit or player) having no cards in a particular suithis spades were void

noun

an empty space or areathe huge desert voids of Asia

a feeling or condition of loneliness or deprivationhis divorce left him in a void

a lack of any cards in one suitto have a void in spades

Also called: counter the inside area of a character of type, such as the inside of an o

verb (mainly tr)

to make ineffective or invalid

to empty (contents, etc) or make empty of contents

(also intr) to discharge the contents of (the bowels or urinary bladder)

archaic to vacate (a place, room, etc)

obsolete to expel

Derived Formsvoider, nounvoidness, noun

Word Origin for void

C13: from Old French vuide, from Vulgar Latin vocītus (unattested), from Latin vacuus empty, from vacāre to be empty

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for non-void

void

"empty space, vacuum," 1727; see void (adj.).

void

"to clear" (some place, of something), c.1300, from void (adj.); meaning "to deprive (something) of legal validity" is attested from early 14c. Related: Voided; voiding.

void

adj.

late 13c., "unoccupied, vacant," from Anglo-French and Old French voide "empty, vast, wide, hollow, waste," from Latin vocivus "unoccupied, vacant," related to vacuus "empty" (see vacuum). Meaning "lacking or wanting" (something) is recorded from early 15c. Meaning "legally invalid" is attested from mid-15c.

non-void in Medicine

void

[void]

v.

To excrete body wastes.

adj.

Containing no matter; empty.

Idioms and Phrases with non-void

void

see null and void.