different between empty vs barren

English

Etymology

From Middle English emty, amty, from Old English ?mti?, ?metti? (“vacant, empty, free, idle, unmarried”, literally “without must or obligation, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + Proto-Germanic *m?tijô, *m?tô (“must, obligation, need”), *m?tiþô (“ability, accommodation”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“measure; to acquire, possess, be in command”). Related to Old English ?e?mti?ian (“to empty”), Old English ?metta (“leisure”), Old English m?tan (“must, might, have to”). More at mote, meet.

The interconsonantal excrescent p is a euphonic insertion dating from Middle English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mpti/, /??mti/
• Hyphenation: emp?ty

Adjective

empty (comparative emptier, superlative emptiest)

1. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.

   an empty purse; an empty jug; an empty stomach

   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part Two, Chapter 1, [1]

     […] something in the little man's appearance suggested that he would be sufficiently attentive to his own comfort to choose the emptiest table.
2. (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
3. (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of.
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2, [3]

     I shall find you empty of that fault,

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book XI, lines 614-7, [4]

     For that fair femal Troop thou sawst, that seemd / Of Goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay, / Yet empty of all good wherein consists / Womans domestic honour and chief praise;

4. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
   • c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act III, Scene 6, [5]

     I hope it remains not unkindly with your lordship that I returned you an empty messenger.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Exodus 3:21, [6]

     And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:

5. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.

   empty words, or threats

   empty offer

   empty promises

   • 1697, Colley Cibber, Woman's Wit, Act V, page 190, [7]

     […] words are but empty thanks; my future conduct best will speak my gratitude.

6. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.

   empty pleasures

   • 1713, Alexander Pope, Windsor-Forest, lines 429-430, [8]

     Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days, / Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;

7. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.

   empty dreams

8. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.

   empty brains; an empty coxcomb

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, [9]

     Art thou thus bolden'd, man, by thy distress? Or else a rude despiser of good manners, / That in civility thou seem'st so empty?

9. (of some female animals, especially cows and sheep) Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.

   Empty cow rates have increased in recent years.

10. (obsolete) Producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree.

    an empty vine

    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 42:27, [10]

      […] seven empty ears blasted with the east wind […]

Synonyms

• (devoid of content): unoccupied, clear, leer, toom, clean

Antonyms

• full
• (computing, mathematics): non-empty

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

empty (third-person singular simple present empties, present participle emptying, simple past and past participle emptied)

1. (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.

   to empty a well or a cistern

   The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.

   • The clouds […] empty themselves upon the earth.

2. (intransitive) Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.

Antonyms

• fill

Derived terms

• empty the clip
• empty the tank

Translations

Noun

empty (plural empties)

1. (usually plural) A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.

Derived terms

• run on empty

Translations

References

Further reading

• empty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• empty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From Middle English barein, barain, from Old French baraigne, baraing (“sterile; barren”), of obscure origin; probably from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *bar (“bare; barren”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare”). More at bare.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?bæ??n/
• Rhymes: -ær?n
• Homophone: baron (in some accents)

Adjective

barren (comparative barrener or more barren, superlative barrenest or most barren)

1. (not comparable) Unable to bear children; sterile.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar:

     Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
     To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say,
     The barren, touched in this holy chase,
     Shake off their sterile curse.

   I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?

2. Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.
3. Bleak.
4. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
   • 1843, William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico

     brilliant but barren reveries

   • Augusr 28, 1731, Jonathan Swift, letter to John Gay

     But schemes are perfectly accidental. Some will appear barren of hints and matter, but prove to be fruitful.
5. Mentally dull; stupid.
   • 1599-1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, ii

     Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.

Synonyms

• sterile

Antonyms

• fertile
• fruitful

Translations

Noun

barren (plural barrens)

1. An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.

   The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.

Translations

Anagrams

• Barner

Basque

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /ba.ren/

Etymology 1

Adjective

barren (comparative barrenago, superlative barrenen, excessive barrenegi)

1. deep

Declension

Noun

barren inan

1. interior
2. guts, stomach
3. (figuratively) soul, spirit

Declension

Etymology 2

barren

1. A particle used to give certainty or emphasis.

Further reading

• “barren” in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia, euskaltzaindia.eus
• “barren” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia, euskaltzaindia.eus

Catalan

Verb

barren

1. third-person plural present indicative form of barrar

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

barren m

1. definite singular of barre

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

barren m

1. definite singular of barre

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?baren/, [?ba.r?n]

Verb

barren

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) present indicative form of barrer.
2. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present indicative form of barrer.

Swedish

Noun

barren

1. definite singular of barr
2. definite plural of barr