Void

How to spell void

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce void

What does void mean?

1. adjectiveHaving no legal force or effect; not valid.
2. nounA completely empty space or gap.
3. verbTo declare something invalid or to cancel it.

Void in a sentence

• adjective

  The contract became void once the deadline passed.

• noun

  Her sudden departure left a void in the team.

• verb

  The bank can void a cheque if the details are wrong.

• adjective

  Any warranty is void if the seal is broken.

• noun

  The spacecraft drifted into the silent void between planets.

• verb

  Missing the payment will void your insurance cover.

Where does void come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin adjective vacuus, meaning 'empty' or 'unoccupied', the same root that gives us 'vacuum' and 'vacant'. In Vulgar Latin this developed into a form like vocitus, which passed into Old French as voide or vuide, meaning 'empty' or 'hollow'. English borrowed it in the 1200s and 1300s, first in the plain sense of 'empty' or 'lacking', and the spelling settled on the 'oi' vowel that the French form supplied. From the idea of being empty grew the legal sense of being empty of force, that is, having no validity, which is why a contract can be declared 'null and void'. The same emptiness underlies the noun, a completely vacant space, and the verb, to empty out or to cancel.

How the word is built

• void (from Latin vacuus 'empty', via Old French voide)