vacate

English

Etymology

Originally used in the legal sense "to annul", a denominal from Early Modern English vacat (“legal annulment”), a development from Middle English vacat (“absence or cancellation noted in a register”), from Latin vacat, third-person singular present active indicative of vacō (“to be idle; to be unoccupied”, literally “to be empty”).

The primary modern sense "to move out" likely developed under the influence of older borrowing vacant (“unoccupied”), in combination with the Early Modern use of vacate to refer to the termination of official appointments to office, which would leave those position vacant.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /veɪˈkeɪt/, /ˈveɪ.keɪt/, (uncommon) /vəˈkeɪt/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -eɪt

Verb

vacate (third-person singular simple present vacates, present participle vacating, simple past and past participle vacated)

To move out of a dwelling or other property, either by choice or by eviction.
I have to vacate my house by midday, as the new owner is moving in.

You are hereby ordered to vacate the premises within 14 days.
- 2023 November 29, Philip Haigh, “New Piccadilly Line trains put to the test”, in RAIL, number 997, page 26:
  The dynamic tests at Wildenrath use continuous test tracks built on the site of a former Royal Air Force station that was vacated after the end of the Cold War.
To leave an office or position.
He vacated his coaching position because of the corruption scandal.
(law, transitive) To have a court judgement set aside; to annul.
The judge vacated the earlier decision when new evidence was presented.
- 2024 April 27, Maya Yang, “Disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein hospitalized”, in The Observer‎^[1], →ISSN:
  On Thursday, the New York court of appeals vacated his conviction after concluding that a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced. It also erased his 23-year prison sentence and ordered a retrial.
To leave an area, usually as a result of orders from public authorities in the event of a riot or natural disaster.
If you do not immediately vacate the area, we will make you leave with tear gas!

Related terms

Translations

to move out

Arabic: أخْلَا
Bulgarian: освобожда́вам (bg) (osvoboždávam), опразвам (bg) (oprazvam)
Catalan: desllogar (ca)
Finnish: muuttaa pois
Hindi: ख़ाली करना (xālī karnā)
Ido: vakuigar (io)
Maori: whakatahi
Portuguese: vacar (pt), vagar (pt)
Russian: освобожда́ть (ru) impf (osvoboždátʹ), освободи́ть (ru) pf (osvobodítʹ)
Spanish: desalojar (es)

to leave an office

Arabic: تَرَكَ (ar) (taraka)
Bulgarian: напускам (bg) (napuskam)
Finnish: erota (fi), jättää virka

to have court judgement set aside

Arabic: أبْطَلَ, نَحّى
Finnish: mitätöidä (fi)

to leave an area

Bulgarian: опразвам (bg) (oprazvam), евакуирам се (evakuiram se)
Finnish: lähteä evakkoon
Maori: whakatahi
Spanish: evacuar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} vider (fr), ^{(please verify)} évacuer (fr)
Georgian: ^{(please verify)} დატოვება (daṭoveba), ^{(please verify)} მიტოვება (miṭoveba), ^{(please verify)} გაუქმება (gaukmeba)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 비우다 (ko) (biuda)
Arabic: أخْلَا
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} چۆڵکردن (çollkirdin)
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} dejar vacante

Anagrams

caveat

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

vacate

inflection of vacare:
1. second-person plural present indicative
2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

vacate f pl

feminine plural of vacato

Anagrams

cavate, taceva

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [waˈkaː.tɛ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [vaˈkaː.te]

Verb

vacāte

second-person plural present active imperative of vacō

Spanish

Verb

vacate

second-person singular voseo imperative of vacar combined with te