void

Etymology 1

From Middle English voide, voyde, from Old French vuit, voide, vuide (modern vide), in turn from a Late Latin vocitus, related to Latin vacuus (“empty”).

adj

1. Containing nothing; empty; not occupied or filled.
   c. 1619–22, Philip Massinger and John Fletcher, A Very Woman I'll chain him in my study, that, at void hours, / I may run over the story of his country.
2. Having no incumbent; unoccupied; said of offices etc.
3. Being without; destitute; devoid.
4. Not producing any effect; ineffectual; vain.
5. Of no legal force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification.
   null and void
   Taiwan's government says that as the island has never been ruled by the People's Republic of China, its sovereignty claims are void. September 21, 2022, Martin Pollard, Ben Blanchard, “China willing to make utmost effort for peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan”, in Michael Perry, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2022-09-21, Asia Pacific
6. Containing no immaterial quality; destitute of mind or soul.
   And senseless words she gave, and sounding strain, / But senseless, lifeless! idol void and vain! 1728, Alexander Pope, “Book II”, in The Dunciad; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 231
7. (computing, programming, of a function or method) That does not return a value; a procedure.
   In particular, the roll method is void — it has no return value. 2005, Craig Larman, Applying UML and patterns
   The return value can safely be ignored if it is a void function. 2007, Andrew Krause, Foundations of GTK+ Development

noun

1. An empty space; a vacuum.
   Nobody has crossed the void since one man died trying three hundred years ago; it's high time we had another go.
   Pride, where Wit fails, steps in to our defence, / And fills up all the mighty void of Sense. 1711, Alexander Pope, “Part II”, in An Essay on Criticism, lines 9–10; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 70
2. (astronomy) An extended region of space containing no galaxies.
3. (materials science) A collection of adjacent vacancies inside a crystal lattice.
4. (fluid mechanics) A pocket of vapour inside a fluid flow, created by cavitation.
5. (construction) An empty space between floors or walls, including false separations and planned gaps between a building and its facade.
6. (Internet, humorous) A black cat.
   My little void is so sweet sometimes.
7. An empty place; A location that has nothing useful.
   From the logistics hub, the spoil will be taken by rail to Barrington in Cambridgeshire, Cliffe in Kent, and Rugby in Warwickshire. It will be used to fill voids at these locations which will then be used for housing developments. December 14 2022, Paul Stephen, “HS2's Dorothy starts to dig second tunnel bore”, in RAIL, number 972, page 23

verb

1. (transitive) To make invalid or worthless.
   He voided the check and returned it.
2. (transitive, medicine) To empty.
   void one’s bowels
3. To throw or send out; to evacuate; to emit; to discharge.
   to void excrement
   With shovel, like a fury, voided out / The earth and scattered bones. 1612, John Webster, The White Devil
   a watchful application of mind in voiding prejudices a. 1692, Isaac Barrow, The Danger and Mischief of Delaying Repentance
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To withdraw, depart.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To remove the contents of; to make or leave vacant or empty; to quit; to leave.
   to void a table
   Somtyme a castel, al of lym and stoon; And whan hem lyked, voyded it anon. 1394, Chaucer, “v. 1149”, in The Franklin's Tale

Etymology 2

Alteration of voidee.

noun

1. (now rare, historical) A voidee.
   Late on the final evening, as the customary ‘void’ – spiced wine and sweetmeats – was served, more elaborate disguisings in the great hall culminated in the release of a flock of white doves. 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 68