Meanings
present singular third person evacuates · participle present evacuating · participle past evacuated · past evacuated
- To cause (or help) to leave or withdraw from.
The firefighters decided to evacuate all the inhabitants from the street.
1 more example
Early the next morning I set off on the long and hazardous trek through jungles and hills into Assam, and regretfully said "good-bye" to the gallant little Burma Railways, which had functioned to the last and played a big part in evacuating many thousands of refugees and wounded soldiers in the path of the rapidly advancing Japanese.
1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 327 - figurativelyTo make empty; to deprive.
Evacuate the Scriptures of their most important doctrines.
1825, James Marsh, Preliminary Essay to Aids to Reflection - To remove; to eject; to void; to discharge, as the contents of a vessel, or of the bladder or the bowels (to stool).
In the living state, the body is observed to receive aliment; to assimilate a part; to evacuate what is redundant or useless; [...]
1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh; London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 1 - To make void; to nullify; to vacate.
to evacuate a contract or marriage
1 more example
it would not evacuate a marriage after cohabitation and actual consummation
1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinēvacuātus
- Englishevacuate
First attested in 1526; borrowed from Latin ēvacuātus, the perfect passive participle of ēvacuō (“to empty out, evacuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic خلا, جَلَا
- خلا (ḵalā)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
- جَلَا (jalā)to cause to leave or withdraw from
- أَخْلَى (ʔaḵlā)to cause to leave or withdraw from
- فَرَّغَ (farraḡa)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
- خَلَّى (ḵallā)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
- أَفْرَغَ (ʔafraḡa)to make empty; to deprive
Bulgarian евакуи́рам, изпразвам
- евакуи́рам (evakuíram)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
- изпразвам (izprazvam)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
- вакуумирам (vakuumiram)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
Catalan evacuar
- evacuarto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Chinese Mandarin 撤離 /撤离, 疏散
- 撤離 /撤离 (chèlí)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
- 疏散 (shūsàn)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
- 後送 /后送 (hòusòng)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
Czech evakuovat
- evakuovatto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Danish evakuere
- evakuereto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Dutch evacueren
- evacuerento move out of an unsafe location into safety
Esperanto evakui
- evakuito move out of an unsafe location into safety
Estonian evakueeruma
- evakueerumato move out of an unsafe location into safety
Finnish tyhjentää, evakuoida
- tyhjentääto move out of an unsafe location into safety
- evakuoidato move out of an unsafe location into safety
French évacuer
- évacuerto move out of an unsafe location into safety
German evakuieren, entleeren
- evakuierento move out of an unsafe location into safety
- entleerento make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
Greek εκκενώνω
- εκκενώνω (ekkenóno)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
Hungarian kiürít, evakuál
- kiürítto move out of an unsafe location into safety
- evakuálto move out of an unsafe location into safety
- kitelepítto move out of an unsafe location into safety
- kimenekítto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Icelandic rýma
- rýmato move out of an unsafe location into safety
Irish folmhaigh
- folmhaighto make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
Italian evacuare
- evacuareto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Japanese 疎開する, 避難する
- 疎開する (sokai suru)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
- 避難する (hinan suru)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
Korean 비우다
- 비우다 (biuda)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
Latin ēvacuō
- ēvacuōto make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
Latvian evakuēt
- evakuētto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Lithuanian evakuoti
- evakuotito move out of an unsafe location into safety
Māori whakatahi
- whakatahito move out of an unsafe location into safety
Norwegian Bokmål evakuere, evakuere
- evakuereto move out of an unsafe location into safety
- evakuereto cause to leave or withdraw from
- evakuereto make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
Polish ewakuować
- ewakuowaćto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Portuguese evacuar
- evacuarto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Romanian a evacua
- a evacuato move out of an unsafe location into safety
Russian эвакуи́ровать, опорожня́ть
- эвакуи́ровать (evakuírovatʹ)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
- опорожня́ть (oporožnjátʹ)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
- опорожни́ть (oporožnítʹ)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
- опустоша́ть (opustošátʹ)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
- опустоши́ть (opustošítʹ)to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum
Slovak evakuovať
- evakuovaťto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Spanish evacuar
- evacuarto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Swahili hamisha
- hamishato move out of an unsafe location into safety
Swedish evakuera, utrymma
- evakuerato move out of an unsafe location into safety
- utrymmato move out of an unsafe location into safety
Thai อพยพ
- อพยพ (òp-pá-yóp)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
Ukrainian евакуюва́ти
- евакуюва́ти (evakujuváty)to move out of an unsafe location into safety
Vietnamese di tản
- di tảnto move out of an unsafe location into safety
Cite this entry
evacuate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evacuate
“evacuate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evacuate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “evacuate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evacuate.
Source: evacuate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.