Etymology

emptiness

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Today it means: The state or feeling of being empty; an emotion that combines hollowness, numbness, disconnection and a lack of meaning in life, resulting in existential boredom, ennui or depression. Full definition →

Middle English emptynesse ← Old English ǣmtiġnes
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emptiness · noun1

  1. Old English · inherited fromǣmtiġnes
  2. Middle English · inherited fromemptynesse
  3. English todayemptiness

Inherited from Middle English emptynesse, from Old English ǣmtiġnes. By surface analysis, empty + -ness.

Emptiness · proper noun2

Calque from Chinese 虛宿/虚宿 (Xūxiù).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.