different between empty vs specious
empty
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)
- 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.
- (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
- (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;
- c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2, [3]
- 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:
- c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act III, Scene 6, [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.
- 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;
- Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
- empty dreams
- 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?
- (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.
- (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)
- (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.
- (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)
- (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.
empty From the web:
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specious
English
Etymology
From Latin speci?sus (“good-looking”).
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /?spi???s/
- Rhymes: -i???s
Adjective
specious (comparative more specious, superlative most specious)
- Seemingly well-reasoned, plausible or true, but actually fallacious.
- Synonyms: fallacious, insincere
- 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes:
- now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent.
- Employing fallacious but deceptively plausible arguments; deceitful.
- 1829, William Phelan, Mortimer O'Sullivan, Ireland: A digest taken before Select Committees of the two Houses of Parliament, appointed to inquire into the State of Ireland, 1824—25, in The Christian Review and Clerical Magazine, Volume III, page 472,
- But a third cause of the delusion is, that the Church of Rome has become more specious and deceitful than before the Reformation.
- 1829, William Phelan, Mortimer O'Sullivan, Ireland: A digest taken before Select Committees of the two Houses of Parliament, appointed to inquire into the State of Ireland, 1824—25, in The Christian Review and Clerical Magazine, Volume III, page 472,
- Having an attractive appearance intended to generate a favorable response; deceptively attractive.
- Synonyms: meretricious, pretextual
- 1760, William Warburton, The Lord Bishop of Gloucester's Sermon Preached Before the Right Honourable the House of Lords, January 30, 1760, page 19,
- And could any thing be more ?pecious, or more equal, than that fair di?tribution of power and profit, which men called the NEW MODEL?
- 1788, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 59
- This argument, though specious, will not, upon examination, be found solid.
- (obsolete) Beautiful, pleasing to look at.
Derived terms
- specious present
- specious tiger (Asota speciosa, a species of moth)
Related terms
- speciosity
- speciously
- speciousness
Translations
See also
- spurious
Anagrams
- cosies up
specious From the web:
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