vacuus

Latin

Alternative forms

• vaquus (Late Latin, Appendix Probi)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *wakowos. Equivalent to vacō (“to be empty, void”) +‎ -uus (“adjective-forming suffix”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwa.ku.ʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈvaː.ku.us]

Adjective

vacuus (feminine vacua, neuter vacuum, superlative vacuissimus, adverb vacuē); first/second-declension adjective

1. empty, vacant, unoccupied

   Synonyms: vānus, inānis

   Antonyms: plēnus, refertus, implētus, explētus, complētus, frequēns

   Fēmina dīxit pōculum vacuum esse.

   The woman said that the cup was empty.

   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Genesis.1.2:

     Terra autem erat inānis et vacua, et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssī et spīritus Deī ferēbātur super aquās.

     And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

2. devoid or free of; without

   Synonyms: carēns, expers, viduus

   Antonyms: abundāns, cōpiōsus, cumulātus, largus, ūber, fēcundus

3. (of time) free; unoccupied
4. (of women) free; unmarried, single

   Synonym: caelebs

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	vacuus	vacua	vacuum		vacuī	vacuae	vacua
genitive	vacuī	vacuae	vacuī		vacuōrum	vacuārum	vacuōrum
dative	vacuō	vacuae	vacuō		vacuīs
accusative	vacuum	vacuam	vacuum		vacuōs	vacuās	vacua
ablative	vacuō	vacuā	vacuō		vacuīs
vocative	vacue	vacua	vacuum		vacuī	vacuae	vacua

Derived terms

• pervacuus
• sēmivacuus
• supervacuus
• vacua
• vacuē
• vacuēfaciō
• vacuior
• vacuissimus
• vacuitās
• vacuitūdō
• vacuius
• Vacūna
• Vacūnālia
• vacūnālis
• vacuō
• vacuola
• vacuum

Related terms

• supervacuāneus
• supervacuē
• supervacuitās
• supervacundus
• supervacuō
• vacāns
• vacanter
• vacēfīō
• vacīvus
• vacō
• vacuāmentum
• vacuārium
• vacuāsiō
• vacuātiō
• vacuātīvus
• vacuātōrium
• vacuātōrius
• vacuātūria
• vacuissimē

Descendants

• Inherited:
  • Asturian: vagu
  • Galician: vougo
  • Portuguese: vago
  • Spanish: vago
• Borrowed:
  • → Asturian: vacu
  • → Proto-Brythonic: *gwag (see there for further descendants)
  • → Catalan: vacu (learned)
  • → English: vacuous, vacuum
  • → Italian: vacuo (learned)
  • → Portuguese: vácuo (learned)
  • → Romanian: vacuu (learned)
  • → Sicilian: vàcuu (learned)
  • → Spanish: vacuo (learned)

References

• “vacuus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vacuus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "vacuus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “vacuus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.