Forms: 3–7 voyde (5–6 woyde, 6 wyde), 4–7 voide (6 woide); 4–8 voyd (6 voyed, 6–7 Sc. woyd), 4– void (5 voied, 6 woid); Sc. 6 vode (9 vodd). [a. AF. and OF. voide (OF. also vuide, veude, etc.; mod.F. vide), fem. of voit, vuit, vuis, etc.:—pop.L. *vocitum, -us, replacing L. vacuus. Cf. Pr. voit, voig, It. voto.]
A. adj. I. 1. Of a see, benefice, etc.: Having no incumbent, holder or possessor; unoccupied, vacant.
c. 1290. Beket, 594, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 123. Þat no bischopriche ne non Abbeie also, Þat were voyde with-oute prelat, In þe kingus hond were I-do.
c. 1450. Contin. Brut, II. 360. Ser Roger Walden, that King Richard had made Archebischop of Caunterbury, he made Bischop of London, for þat time it stode voyde.
1473–5. in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830), II. Pref. 61. They beyng so seased, the chirch fell voyde.
1503–4. Act 19 Hen. VII., c. 25 § 2. Whensoever … any of ther Sees to be voyde be eny other ways.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 36. The See was voyde fiue yeres, and the goodes of the Church spent to the kinges vse.
1596. Drayton, Legends, iv. 705. If some Abbey hapned void to fall, By death of Him that the Superiour was.
1628. Burton, Anat. Mel., II. iii. VII. (ed. 3), 324. I know not … in what Cathedral Church, a fat Prebend fell voide.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., II. iv. § 45. Winchester lay void six, and Sherburn seven years.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., II. 684. In the said See, after it had laid void till Nov. 1688, did succeed Dr. Tho. Lamplugh.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time (1766), I. 248. He was removed to Winchester void by Duppa’s death.
1785. Paley, Mor. Philos., III. I. xx. The advowson of a void turn, by law, cannot be transferred from one patron to another.
1835. Penny Cycl., IV. 223/2. If a donative is the second living taken without a dispensation, the first is not made void by the statute.
1848. Lytton, Harold, III. iii. The chairs of the prelates of London and Canterbury were void.
b. Similarly of secular offices.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 109. Norþhumberlonde was voyde wiþoute kyng eiȝte ȝere.
c. 1435. Chron. London (Kingsford, 1905), 43. Hit was knowyn that thurh the deposicion,… and causes fforseyd,… the Rewme off Englond was voyde ffor the tyme.
c. 1500. Melusine, xix. 67. Your fader … lefte hys landes and possessyons voyde, without lord.
1535. Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), I. 398. I am acerteynyd that the Rowmes of your foure Clarkes are now furnyshyd & non of theym voide.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 158 b. This office had bene for ever voyde synce the death of the Duke of Bourbon.
1619. Moryson, Itin., II. 54. To bee Lord President of Mounster, which place had layen void some few moneths.
1670. Walton, Lives, II. 123. The Provostship of His Majesties Colledge of Eaton became void by the death of Mr. Thomas Murray.
1708. J. Chamberlayne, St. Gt. Brit., I. I. iii. (1710), 6. Seventy Queen’s Scholars are … sent yearly to King’s College in Cambridge, as Places become void.
1867. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1877), I. App. 660. This last was evidently the earldom made void by the death of Ælfhelm.
† c. Void money, money that has accumulated during the vacancy of an office. Obs.
1513. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb. Rec. off voyd money at þe payment off Lomas. Rec. off voyd money off þe payment off Phelyp and Jacobe. Ibid. (1539). Rec. of the voyd money v s. ij d.
2. Of a seat, saddle, etc.: Having no occupant; in which no one is sitting, lying, etc.; empty.
13[?]. Coer de L., 5079. Ther was a many a voyd sadyl.
a. 1350. St. Stephen, 286, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 31. Þaire graues er both voyd & bare.
14[?]. Tundale’s Vis., 2243. Tundale saw … A sige that was full bryght schynand, But hyt was voyde wen he saw hyt.
c. 1450. Merlin, iii. 59. At this table was euer a voyde place, that betokeneth the place of Iudas.
1474. Caxton, Chesse, IV. ii. (1883), 165. He may put hym in the voyde space to fore the phisicyen. Ibid. (1483), Gold. Leg., 289/1. Whan her fader & moder sawe her chare come home empty & voide thenne they did do seke their douȝter oueral.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, Transtrum vacuum, a seate voyde or emptie.
1695. Sibbald, Autobiog. (1834), 127. She was interred in her father’s grave in the isle of Torphichen upon the part of the through stone that was voyd.
a. 1713. Ellwood, Autobiog. (1765), 20. I stept in and sate down on the first void Seat.
1851. Mrs. Browning, Casa Guidi Wind., I. 42. Behold, instead, Void at Verona, Juliet’s marble trough.
1886. Kipling, Departm. Ditties, etc. (1899), 120. ‘We know the Shrine is void,’ they said, ‘The Goddess flown.’
† b. Of a horse: Having no rider. Obs. rare.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IV. viii. 129. Accolon mounted vpon a voyde hors.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Inanis, Inanis equus, a voyde or emptie horse: a leere horse.
c. Of a house or room: Unoccupied; untenanted. Now chiefly dial.
1479–81. Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905), 96. A howse at fayster lane, voyd by iij quarters.
1502. Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 127. The same ten[emen]t … stood wyde without ani tenant many yeres afore.
1603. Harsnet, Pop. Impost., 10. Happily they slipped into some Noble mans voide house in London.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 471. 720. mansions: whereof 224. stood void.
1700. Dryden, Cock & Fox, 217. Eu’ry Inn so full, That no void Room in Chamber, or on Ground,… was to be found.
1866–. in dial. glossaries (Shetland, Shropshire, Worc., Herts., Glouc.).
3. Of places: Destitute of occupants or inhabitants; not occupied or frequented by living creatures; deserted, empty.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 192. Tille Acres þei him led, better hele to haue In þer way ilk dele þei fond voide als hethe. Ibid., 305. Alle voide was þe place, Þe bataile slayn & done all within þat space.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 390. Sen þat place in heven bright Was made voyde thurgh þe syn of pride.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 3221. Wel two Mile to loke aboute a stryde voide þer nas, þat of þat ilke heþenene route al ful was euery plas.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 129. Otheris sayde that hit was to drede that thay sholde fynde the Cite of grece woyde.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., clxiv. On the quhele was lytill void space.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., II. (1811), 25. Ye kyng wt thaduyce of his Barons graunted vnto them a voyde and wast countre.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Macc. iii. 45. As for Ierusalem, it laye voyde, and was as it had bene a wyldernesse. There wente no man in nor out at it.
1578. Timme, Calvin on Gen., 209. That he might know that the world … should not be a desert and voyde place for ever.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 184. Finding it [the realm] than voyd in a maner and bair of strang handes to defend it.
1653. Jer. Taylor, Serm. for Year (1678), 79. An appetite keen as a Wolf upon the void plains of the North.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, IX. 675. Where void spaces on the walls appear, Or thin defence, they pour their forces there.
1813. Scott, Rokeby, II. xvii. In the void offices around Rung not a hoof, nor bay’d a hound.
1899. Crockett, Kit Kennedy, 197. The scanty pasture-fields were void and empty.
b. Not occupied by buildings or other useful structures; unutilized, vacant.
1442. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), I. 387. For cariage of xxxj lodes of lome fro the fundacion of the College … in to a woyde place.
1473. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 90/1. A cotage, and a voide place conteignyng by estimation a Rode.
1519. Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading (ed. Nash), 3. A void grownd in the North side of the said mill lane.
1548. Nottingham Rec., IV. 93. A tenement late in the tenure of John Alestre and a voide peyce of grownde with a gardeyn.
1611. Bible, 1 Kings xxii. 10. The King of Iudah sate … in a voyd place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria.
1665. G. Havers, P. della Valle’s Trav. E. India, 50. Near this Castle Gate, in a void place of the street are two pulpits handsomely built of stone.
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., II. 72. Hamadan is a very large Town, but contains many void places, Gardens, and even ploughed Fields within it.
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), II. 143. In the middle of each square was likewise all void ground.
1759. B. Martin, Nat. Hist., I. 113. There is a great Deal of void Ground, within the Walls [of Winchester].
1871. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. xviii. 191. Most likely it stood in the void space between the mound, the gateway, and the later Castle.
† c. Unproductive, uncultivated. Obs.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIV. xlviii. (Bodl. MS.). A feelde þat is yered hatte Noualis oþer feelde þat lieþ voide euer þe oþer ȝere to renewe his vertu.
1615. W. Lawson, Country Housew. Gard. (1626), 6. Men and cattell (that haue put trees thence, from out of Plaines to void corners) are better then trees.
4. Not occupied by visible contents; containing no matter; empty, unfilled: a. Of receptacles, or things of similar form.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 191. We … With voide handes schul appiere, Touchende oure cure spirital.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), v. 53. Ȝif þei weren sepultures, þei scholden not ben voyd with inne.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., lxi. 255 (Harl. MS.). Hit is a woyde tonne, caste oute with sum men fro sum shippe.
c. 1500. For to serve a Lord, in Babees Bk. (1868), 370. Cutle away the nekke in a voyde plate.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. xviii. 25. All there Cariagis were sette in voyde granges and barnes. Ibid. (a. 1533), Huon, xlv. 150. Incontynent the cuppe was voyde, and ye wyne vanysshyd away.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 83. They vse to serue in sower crawt or cabbage vpon a voide circle of carued Iron standing on three feete.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, III. 447. But Venus, foam-sprung Goddess,… snapp’d short the brace,… And the void helmet follow’d as he pull’d.
b. In general use. (Freq. of place or space.)
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 36. The small corne lyeth in the holowe and voyde places of the greate beanes.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, III. ii. 82. With their shot bestowed, in the 4 voyde angles or corners.
a. 1639. T. Carew, Truce in Love entreated, i. For see my heart is made thy Quiver, where remaines No voyd place for another Dart.
a. 1680. Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 88. Nor can endure to fill up a void Place, At a Line’s End, with one insipid Phrase.
1697. J. Potter, Antiq. Greece, I. viii. (1715), 39. The Spaces between … left void to admit the Light.
1794. Hutton, Philos. Light, etc., 49. It therefore passes as freely through a transparent body as through the voidest space.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 182. There are no void spaces among the basaltes.
1821. Shelley, Adonais, xlvii. Dart thy spirit’s light Beyond all worlds, until its spacious might Satiate the void circumference.
1865. Swinburne, Atalanta, 428. An eagle wrought in gold That … with void mouth gapes after emptier prey.
Comb. 1857. G. Macdonald, Poems, 140. The air is as the breath From the lips of void-eyed Death.
† c. Void room, an unfurnished or unoccupied room serving as an entrance or waiting hall. Obs.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. (1586), 12. You see a voyd roome before the Kitchin, which is an entrie both to the Kitchin … and to the Oxhouses.
1586. J. Hooker, Hist. Irel., in Holinshed, II. 123/2. Betweene which & the lower end of the house is a void roome seruing for the lower house, and for all sutors.
† d. Of paper, etc.: Blank, not written on; containing no writing or lettering. Obs.
1551. Ascham, Lett., Wks. 1865, I. II. 286. Because this paper is void, I cannot leave talking with you.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 728. A mangled Inscription … broken heere and there with voide places betweene.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., IV. xvii. 202. Keep the left side of your Book void, that you may write all the Passages of the Voyage.
1748. Anson’s Voy., III. vii. 360. He had every head of enquiry separately wrote down on a sheet of paper, with a void space opposite to it.
e. spec. Having the center empty or not filled in.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., Annot. There were in old time foure maners of pricking, one al blacke which they tearmed blacke full, another which we vse now which they called black void.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Bastions Void or Hollow, are those that have a Rampart and Parapet ranging only round about their Flanks and Faces, so that a void Space is left toward the Centre.
† 5. Empty-handed; destitute. Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., II. pr. v. (1868), 50. Yif þou haddest entred in þe paþe of þis lijf a voide wayfaryng man, þan woldest þou synge by-fore þe þeef.
1382. Wyclif, Mark xii. 3. The erthe tilieres … beten him takun, and leften him voyde.
c. 1425. Found. St. Bartholomew’s (E.E.T.S.), 25. He wolde not go from hym voyde.
1532. More, Confut. Barnes, VIII. Wks. 759/1. My sonne … shall not returne againe to me voyde or emptie. For he shall bring with him the fathers out of Limbus.
† b. Void (of) course, said of a planet: (see quot. 1679). Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Compl. Mars, 114. Now fleeth Venus unto Cylenius tour, With voide cours, for fere of Phebus light.
1679. Moxon, Math. Dict., Void of Course. A Planet is said to be so, when he is separated from one Planet, and doth not during his being in that Sign, Apply to any other, either by Body or Aspect.
6. † a. Of persons, etc.: Empty or destitute of good qualities; worthless. Obs.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 36. He þat seiþ to his broþer þat haþ þe holi gost … þat he is voide & wiþ-oute kunnynge. Ibid. (1382), 2 Peter i. 8. Thei shulen not ordeyne ȝou voyde, ne with outen fruyt, in the knowinge of oure Lord Jhesu Crist.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xcii. 421 (Add. MS.). Ye dreme, or ellys ye han fastid to mych, that your hede is voyde.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 1346/1. They that do persecute, be voyde and without all truth.
1728. Pope, Dunc., II. 45. Empty words she gave, and sounding strain, But senseless, lifeless! idol void and vain!
b. Of speech, action, etc.: Ineffective, useless, leading to no result.
1382. Wyclif, Isaiah lv. 11. My wrd … shal not be turned aȝeen voide to me, but shal do what euere thingus I wolde.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 154. In voyde wordis onely is hare memory makyd.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, I. xx. 23. Wiþdrawe þiself fro voide spekinges & idel circuites.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, I. 1453. In certaynte haue I All worldely pleasures,… and honour, With all voyde busynesse, and cures transytory. Ibid., 1809. O gloryous vyrgyn, replete with synguler grace,… Refusynge voyde pleasures.
1557. Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.), 145. For all was ioy that I did fele: And of voide wandering I was free.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lx. § 5. Despaire I cannot, nor induce my minde to thinke his faith voide.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. v. § 11. The end ought to be, from both philosophies to separate … whatsoever is empty and void, and to preserve … whatsoever is solid and fruitful.
1611. Bible, 1 Cor. ix. 15. It were better for me to die, then that any man should make my glorying voyd.
1847. Tennyson, Princ., VII. 19. Void was her use, And she as one that climbs a peak to gaze O’er land and main.
1871. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Rur. Sports (ed. 9), III. 629/2. Void end means that neither side can score a cast. Ibid., 630/1. A void end shall be included in this provision.
1881. Dufferin, in Lyall, Life (1905), II. i. 13. Any serious communication we may make to the Ministers is as void as though it had been confided to the winds.
† c. Of material things: Superfluous, waste. Obs. rare.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., VI. 23. This mone is ek for pampinacioun Conuenient: void leves puld to be.
1494–5. Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905), 215. For makyng of j ole in the chirche for voyde water.
c. 1530. H. Rhodes, Bk. Nurture, 293, in Babees Bk. (1868), 79. Wyth bones & voyd morsels fyll not thy trenchour, my friend, full.
d. Of looks: Vacant. rare–1.
1796. Coleridge, Destiny of Nations, 253. Her flushed tumultuous features … now once more Naked, and void, and fixed.
7. Having no legal force; not binding in law; legally null, invalid, or ineffectual.
Null and void: see NULL a. 1 b.
1433–4. Rolls of Parlt., V. 437/2. This thaire assent and grant for to stande in strengthe, and ellus to be as voide and of noe valeure.
c. 1475. Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls), VIII. 511. That parliamente of kynge Ricardus was made voyde & as of noo valoure.
1496. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 513/1. An Acte for making voyde of a Statute concerning artificers.
1527. in Trans. Cumbld. & Westmoreld. Archæol. Soc. (1914), XIV. 80. This obligacione to be woide and of non effect.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 106. What soever is there done to be voyde and of none effect.
1592. West, 1st Pt. Symbol., § 102 B. Then the said couenant touching the paiment of &c. and the deliuering of the said bond to be cancelled, and either of them shalbe utterly void.
1625. Donne, Serm., 24 Feb. (1626), 43. If the Bill were interlinde, or blotted, or dropt, the Bill was voyd.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxi. In Covenants, not to defend a mans own body, are voyd.
1672. Dryden, Conq. Granada, I. i. The Force us’d on me made that Contract void.
1713. Steele, Englishm., No. 41. 265. She immediately made void certain Grants she had made.
1774. T. Jefferson, Autobiog., App., Wks. 1859, I. 130. The true ground on which we declare these acts void, is, that the British Parliament has no right to exercise authority over us.
1838. Thirlwall, Greece, II. 46. All statutes which they deemed void, contradictory, or superfluous.
1861. Ld. Brougham, Brit. Const., xiv. 202. The Parliament declared that the same marriage had from the beginning been void.
1879. McCarthy, Own Times, xviii. II. 35. The election was declared void, and a new writ was issued.
b. In general use: Null, invalid.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 5. Ceremonyes … whiche all were euacuate and made voyde by the passyon of our sauyour Jesu Chryst.
1530. Rastell, Bk. Purgat., Prol. That repentaunce that he had before shuld be but voyde.
1604. Jas. I., Counterbl. to Tobacco (Arb.), 102. Of this Argument, both the Proposition and Assumption are false, and so the Conclusion cannot but be voyd of it selfe.
a. 1682. Sir T. Browne, Tracts (1683), 99. This makes void that common conceit and tradition of the Fish called Faber marinus.
1746. Hoyle, Games, Quadrille, 36. If there happen to be two Cards of the same sort, and found out before the Deal is ended, the Deal is void, but not otherwise.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., IV. 225. The cast is void if the ball does not enter any of the holes.
1812. Cary, Dante, Parad., III. 57. Our vows Were, in some part, neglected and made void.
8. Of time: Free from work or occupation; unemployed, idle, leisure. Now rare.
c. 1450. Myrr. our Ladye, 23. Therefore though … a lesson be red but of one alone, yet thinke not that that is a voyde tyme to all the other to do what they wyll.
1538. Starkey, England, II. i. 161. To haue a commyn place appoyntyd … wherin they myght at voyd tymys exercyse themselfys.
1551. Robinson, trans. More’s Utopia, IV. (1895), 142. All the voide time, that is betwene the houres of woorke, slepe, and meate.
1598. R. Bernard, trans. Terence, Heautontim., I. i. Haue you so much leasure and voide time from your owne priuate affaires, that [etc.].
1634. Massinger, Very Woman, III. i. I’ll chain him in my study, that a void hours I may run o’er the story of his country.
1853. C. Brontë, Villette, xxiv. That void interval which passes for him so slowly … teems with events for his friends.
† b. Vacant in respect of office; marked by a vacancy or interregnum. Obs.
1480. Waterf. Arch., in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 316. They that be chosen ballyffs one yere, shal not be chosen … without they have one yere voied betwxt. Ibid. (1496), 324. The eldest that have borne the office of Mairaltie shall have the same voide day, if he have noo daye before.
1591. Savile, Tacitus, Hist., II. lxxi. 94. That Valens and Cæcina might obtaine some voide moneths that yeare to be Consuls in.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, II. vi. § 8. 329. There can be no void years found betweene Iosua and Othoniel. Ibid., xxii. § 11. 558. Yet some coniectures there are made, which tend to keepe all euen, without acknowledging any voide time.
† c. Of persons: Unemployed. In quot. fig.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, III. lix. 137. Nature loueþ idelnes,… but grace can not be voide ner idel, but gladly takiþ upon him labour & traueile.
† 9. Lacking, wanting. Obs.–1
1554–9. Songs & Ball. Phil. & Mary (Roxb.), 4. In Chryst all fullness of power and myght dothe dwell; In hyme voyd was nothyng that was nydfull and fytt.
† 10. Powerless, unable. Obs.–1
1578. Roydon, in T. Procter, Gorg. Gallery, A ij b. But Sicophantes will neuer cease to swell Though (learnedly) themselues be voyde to write.
II. Const. of (occas. † from).
11. Devoid of, free from, not tainted with (some bad quality, fault or defect).
c. 1374. Chaucer, Former Age, 50. The lambish peple, voyd of alle vyce. Ibid. (c. 1385), L. G. W., Prol. 167. Thus thise foweles, voide of al malice … songe alle of oon acorde.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 11. And Musik had, voyde of alle discord, Boece her clerk, withe hevenly armony.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VIII. 1624. A ryoll king herd off Wallace gouernance … and off his pruvyt prys, Off honour, trewth, and woid off cowatis.
a. 1529. Skelton, Calliope, 18. Yet is she fayne, Voyde of disdayn Me to retayne Her seruiture.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 231 b. They oughte to be free and voyde from anger.
1595. Locrine, II. ii. 3. We Coblers lead a merie life:… Void of all enuie and of strife.
1605. Earl Stirling, Alexandr. Trag., IV. i. All love a courteous count’nance, voyd of Art.
1617. Moryson, Itin., II. 75. The said point could not be thought void of that cunning, wherein the writer excelled.
1718. Free-thinker, No. 66. 84. Let your Deliberations be void of Animosities.
1815. W. H. Ireland, Scribbleomania, 260. Our code void of quirks in a Blackstone is seen.
1832. G. R. Porter, Porcelain & Gl., xi. 253. A piece of flint glass,… by no means void of imperfections.
1862. Trollope, Orley F., i. He was a man void of mystery, and not given to secrets.
b. Free from, untouched by, not affected or impaired by (something unpleasant or hurtful).
c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 809. On a camell rydyng, as voyde of all care.
1509. Fisher, Funeral Serm. C’tess Richmond, Wks. (1876), 305. A lyfe voyde of all sorow & encombraunce.
1522. More, De Quat. Noviss., Wks. 81/1. So yt neuer any of them had euer in their liues knowen or herd, either themself or any other voyd of those disseases.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 101. A place myght be assigned for the counsell, voyde of all daunger and suspicion.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. LIX. vi. They prate and bable voide of feare.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 350. Some would haue him kept in a close, darke and quiet house, voyde from all noise.
1655. Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., iv. 6. Never clogging the memory with several figures for words … which with ease and void of confusion, are thus speedily … letter for letter set down.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 585. Next Day, nor only that, but all the Moon,… Are void of Tempests. Ibid., II. 688. My next Desire is, void of Care and Strife, To lead a soft, secure, inglorious Life.
1753. Richardson, Grandison (1781), III. xxviii. 330. I, sanguine in my hopes, had expressed myself as void of all doubt but you would become a Catholick.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xxxiv. Eachin alone had left it [the battle-ground] void of wounds.
1878. Marie A. Brown, trans. Runeberg’s Nadeschda, III. 37. And void of fear … She goes to Woldmar.
† c. Clear or quit of (a person); vacant in respect of. Obs.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Rich. III., 48 b. Nowe nothinge was contrariant … to his pernicious purpose, but that his mancion was not voide of his wife.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 293 b. In the countrey round about were forces of Spanyardes and Italians. Of whome to be voyde and free, they … payde thirty thousand … crownes.
1651. N. Bacon, Disc. Govt. Eng., II. xxiv. 188. The Parliament … declared the Throne void of Edward the Fourth, and Henry the Sixth King.
12. Destitute of, not graced or ennobled by (some virtue or good quality).
c. 1400. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), IV. xxix. (1859), 62. Thou arte veyne, and voyde of al maner of vertue.
1467. Songs Costume (Percy Soc.), 56. Ye poope holy prestis full of presomcion,… voyd of discrecion.
1508. Dunbar, Flyting, 61. I se the haltane in thy harlotrie,… Off every vertew woyd.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 24. The inhabitantes are … vtterly voyde of all godly knowledge. Ibid. (1555), Decades (Arb.), 52. O vnthankefull Englande and voyde of honest shame.
1590. Sir J. Smyth, Disc. Weapons, Ded. 3. They haue been so voide of the orders and exercises of war of their forefathers.
1612. Two Noble K., III. i. O thou most perfidious That ever gently lookd; the voydest of honour That eu’r bore gentle Token.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 1074. Bad Fruit of Knowledge,… Which leaves us naked thus, of Honour void.
1686. in Verney Mem. (1907), II. 410. I am not so void of reson at this age bot that I can refran from duing myself and family any damag by play.
1706. Estcourt, Fair Example, V. i. Beauty, tho’ void of Virtue, has the Power To make as well the Wise as Fools adore.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 136. But Hunger is void of all Compassion.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, VI. iv. She was totally void of judgment or discretion.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. viii. 660. Whom he represents as too void of character, to write anything of himself.
1831. Mackintosh, Hist. Eng., II. 44. He was as void of manly as of kingly virtues.
1861. Ld. Brougham, Brit. Const., xiv. 206. A person void of capacity, without any experience.
b. Destitute or deprived of, lacking or wanting (something desirable or natural).
The groups of quotations illustrate different types of context.
(a) c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1382. Came thedyr Attropos, voyde of all gladness, Wrappyd in hys shete.
1533. Bellenden, Livy (S.T.S.), I. 298. Þai war vode of all gude esperance.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 33. Woide of all joy, but full of painfulnes.
1592. Timme, Ten Eng. Lepers, K iij. They find that they are utterly void of all helpe.
1612. Drayton, Poly-olb., v. 341. Voyd of all delight, cold, barren, bleake and dry.
1690. Child, Disc. Trade (1698), 14. The people poor, despicable, and voide of commerce.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 676. He took his way, thro’ Forrests void of Light.
1709. Berkeley, Th. Vision, § 90. It would not at first view be altogether void of probability.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., VII. 643. Life void of joy, Sad prelude of Eternity in pain!
1812. Crabbe, Tales, II. 394. By various shores, he passed, on various seas, Never so happy as when void of ease.
1862. Burton, Bk. Hunter (1863), 309. The records of endurance and martyrdom for conscience sake, can never be void of interest.
(b) 1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 240. Ryghtful houre of ettynge is, whan the stomake is purchet and clenset, and voyde of the mette.
1563. B. Googe, Eglogs, v. (Arb.), 47. Thy face good Egon [is] voide of blud, thine eies amased stare.
1581. W. Fulke, in Confer., III. (1584), O iij b. Nay, hee saith plainely, they are not Expertes corporis, voyde of body.
1656. Stanley, Hist. Philos., V. (1687), 185/2. If matter it self be in it self void of measure, it is necessary that it receive measure from some superiour.
1728. T. Sheridan, trans. Persius, v. (1739), 68. A white Shield void of any Figures in it.
1794. R. J. Sulivan, View Nat., I. 378. This water, when newly melted, is totally void both of air, and of the aerial acid.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 489. It is colourless and void of smell, but intensely saline and bitter.
1829. Chapters Phys. Sci., 124. Leaving 1727 cubic inches void of any material substance.
1859. Jephson & Reeve, Brittany, 237. The surface of the water was perfectly void of any ripple.
(c) 1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), III. 339. Philippus, kynge of Macedony, scholde destroye sone the cite if that hit were vacuate and voide of discrete men.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxii. 97. Methocht Compassioun, vode of feiris, Than straik at me with mony ane stound.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., VII. (1533), II. 8 b/2. To espye when he were voyde of his company, and then to take hym.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, VIII. 298. He marched through wilde and desert places voide of inhabitants.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., X. 505. The Inhabitants being left void of a Gouernour, or solid Patrone.
(d) 1513. Life Henry V. (Kingsford, 1911), 126. Whereby the Englishmen, voide of there requests, returned to there lodges.
1670. G. H., Hist. Cardinals, III. I. 240. He was depos’d, and declar’d void of the Papacy.
B. sb.1 1. † a. One who is devoid of something. Obs.–1
1614. Sylvester, Bethulia’s Rescue, IV. 126. Their immodest flame Fires none but Fools, Frantiks, or Voids of shame.
b. A state or condition devoid of something; a lack or want. rare.
1786. Phil. Trans., LXXVI. 274. On account of the impossibility of making a perfect void of air by means of the pump.
1788. Wesley, Wks. (1872), VI. 352. Men in whom pride … supplies the void of sense.
1789. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), II. 559. Nor has the society he has kept been such as to supply the void of education.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), IV. 273. Space is the void of outward objects.
2. Emptiness, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Trag. Hen. Gt., 602. Who, from the Ocean, Motion can recall, Heat from Fire, Void from Air, Order from All.
1781. Lofft, Eudosia, VI. 349.
| Therefore, in perfect void, the medium lost, | |
| To which specific gravities are weigh’d, | |
| All substances with like velocity | |
| Descend. |
1871. B. Taylor, Faust (1875), II. I. v. 67. Naught shalt thou see in endless void afar.
1878. Stewart & Tait, Unseen Univ., iv. § 121. 133. But there is also void in things, else they would be jammed together.
fig. 1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 471. It leaves the feeling of void and forsakenness.
3. a. Arch. A space left in a wall for a window, or door; the opening of an arch; any unfilled space in a building or structure.
1616. Extr. Aberdeen Reg. (1848), II. 341. The said Thomas … sall build ane voyd hard be the said passage for letting doun the paissis frome the knock.
1723. Chambers, trans. Le Clerc’s Treat. Archit., I. 138. Massive is found over Massive, and Void under Void.
1742. De Foe’s Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 3), II. 120. The Thickness of each Pier is not one Third Part of the Void of each Arch.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, I. 163. A very loose mode of … measuring voids, as the openings of doors and windows are termed.
1889. Hissey, Tour in Phaeton, 124. The windows are both prominent and graceful features in the building, not merely glazed voids.
b. An empty or vacant space; an unoccupied place or opening in something or between things; a vacancy caused by the removal of something.
Examples of the singular with the (cf. sense 4) are placed under (a). The use is often fig., esp. in the phrase to fill the void.
(a) 1697. Dryden, Æneid, X. 634. From the forbidden space his men retired…. He said, and to the void advanced his pace.
1737. [S. Berington], G. di Lucca’s Mem. (1738), 161. In the middle of this Concave is a golden Sun, hanging in the Void.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 209. All the tricks That idleness has ever yet contriv’d To fill the void of an unfurnish’d brain.
1817. Moore, Lalla R., Wks. (1910), 415/1. A wide, deep, and wizard glen, So fathomless, so full of gloom, No eye could pierce the void between.
1861. Maine, Anc. Law, iv. 99. The mind of a Roman lawyer … would instantly fill the void with the ordinances of Nature.
(b) 1708. Chamberlayne, St. Gt. Brit., II. I. ii. (1710), 353. There is … a Void within for the Soldiers Lodgings.
1712. Blackmore, Creation, 84. The Stars … At a vast distance from each other lye, Sever’d by spacious voids of liquid sky.
1822. Byron, Heaven & Earth, I. iii. 310. Without Him, even eternity would be A void.
1849. Julius Hare, Sermons, II. 469. We learn that the courts of heaven are not a bare void, but that … innumerable beings are there.
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 932. If … a severe frost … destroys half the plants … the voids are again filled up by the dispersion of the seeds.
c. spec. An absolutely empty space; a vacuum.
1727. Swift, Wonder of Wond., Wks. 1755, II. II. 53. He is an atomic philosopher, strongly maintaining a void in nature.
1785. Reid, Intell. Powers, II. xix. 262. It [sc. space] is only an immense, eternal, immoveable, and indestructible void or emptiness.
1834. Mrs. Somerville, Connex. Phys. Sci., xiv. (1840), 123. It is utterly incomprehensible that the celestial bodies should exert a reciprocal attraction through a void.
1837. Whewell, Hist. Induct. Sci. (1857), I. 33. Whether there was or was not a Void, or place without matter, had already been debated among rival sects of philosophers.
1905. Times, 31 Aug., 7/4. Does not the atom of Democritus again emerge, and with it the Democritean void?
fig. 1732. Pope, Ess. Man, I. 243. On superior pow’rs Were we to press, inferior might on ours: Or in the full creation leave a void.
1868. Tennyson, Lucretius, 37. It seem’d A void was made in Nature; all her bonds Crack’d.
d. One of the small unoccupied spaces in a heap or mass that is not perfectly solid.
1837. J. T. Smith, trans. Vicat’s Mortars, 87, note. It is then easy to judge by the quantity of water used, what proportion the voids bear to the whole bulk of the sand.
1868. Tennyson, Lucretius, 254. The very sides of the grave itself shall pass, Vanishing, atom and void, atom and void, Into the unseen for ever.
1884. G. E. Waring, Jr., in Century Mag., XXIX. 48/1. How large we could determine by filling its voids with water and measuring its quantity.
1900. Engineering Mag., XIX. 774/1. Strength of Concrete with Different Per Cent. of Voids Filled.
4. spec. With the: The empty expanse of space.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 829. With lonely steps to tread Th’ unfounded deep, & through the void immense To search with wandring quest a place foretold.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Past., VI. 51. He sung … How Seas, and Earth, and Air, and active Flame, Fell through the mighty Void. Ibid. (1697), Æneid, XII. 994. Prone through the void the rocky ruin shoots.
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 229. This rich variety of Creatures, that fill the Void, in which the Earth in the Beginning was said to be.
1774. Beattie, Minstr., II. xxiii. For now no cloud obscures the starry void.
1820. Shelley, Liberty, i. The ray Of the remotest sphere of living flame Which paves the void was from behind it flung.
1854. Brewster, More Worlds, x. 163. The inmense void which lies between our system and the nearest system of the stars.
1871. B. Taylor, Faust (1875), I. iv. 65. The scattered Fragments into the Void we carry.
b. Const. of (heaven, etc.).
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 438. The void profound Of unessential Night receives him next Wide gaping.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 47. In the Void of Heav’n a Space is free, Betwixt the Scorpion and the Maid, for thee.
1726–46. Thomson, Seasons, Winter, 576. If Nature’s boundless frame Was call’d, late-rising from the void of night, Or sprung eternal from th’ Eternal Mind.
1743. Francis, trans. Hor., Odes, I. iii. 38. Thus did the venturous Cretan dare To tempt with impious wings the void of air.
fig. 1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 210. Pride, where wit fails,… fills up all the mighty void of sense.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., I. ii. 43. Mere Outside all, to fill the mighty Void Of Life, in Dress and Equipage employ’d.
1795. Burke, Regic. Peace, i. Wks. 1842, II. 275. To lose ourselves in the infinite void of the conjectural world.
1829. I. Taylor, Enthus., iv. 84. The dark void of infidelity.
1866. Geo. Eliot, F. Holt, i. To fill up the great void of life with giving small orders to tenants.
5. fig. a. An unsatisfied feeling or desire.
1779. Cowper, Hymns, i. They have left an aching void, The world can never fill.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xiii. 6. [Tears] Which weep a loss for ever new, A void where heart on heart reposed.
1899. Doyle, Duet (1909), 15/1. You talk about my happiness before I met you,… but what a void there was!
b. A blank in a record.
1866. Rogers, Agric. & Prices, Introd. They are an attempt to satisfy a total void.
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1875), III. xiv. 329. A void is left which history cannot fill.
6. A period during which a house or farm is unoccupied or unlet. (Cf. VOID a. 2 c.)
1885. Daily News, 23 Jan., 3/3. For some years it went reasonably well; but with frequent voids and losses of rent. Ibid. (1905), 20 Feb., 3. The [income tax] authorities would only allow ‘voids’ or ‘empties’ within the financial year in which they occurred.
7. In the game of skat: The seven, eight or nine, which have no value in counting.
1891. Diehl, Skat, 58. By leading the void of the plain suit, you will very likely be enabled to make two tricks in that suit.
