vacuum

C1 Topic:Astronomy & Space

US /ˈvæ.kjuːm/ See IPA manual

Freq #6310

Meanings

1

noun
A space that contains no matter or air.

Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.
2

noun
An electric machine that cleans floors by suction.

He ran the vacuum over the living-room carpet.
3

verb
To clean something using a vacuum cleaner.

Could you vacuum the carpets before the guests arrive?
4

noun
An empty feeling left by the loss of someone or something important.

Her retirement left a vacuum at the heart of the team.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a space that contains no... vacancy void

2 noun · an electric machine that... vacuum cleaner

3 verb · to clean something using a... hoover

Word family

Forms vacuavacuumedvacuumingvacuums

Derived forms electrovacuumintervacuumnonvacuumquasivacuumthermal-vacuumultravacuumvacuum-cleanvacuum-cleanedvacuum-packvacuum-packedvacuumablevacuumer

Related forms vacant vacuous

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

vacuum aspiration
a method of ending a pregnancy by removing uterine contents with suction

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Nature abhors a vacuum

Simplified etymology

Vacuum entered English in the mid-16th century from modern Latin, ultimately from Latin vacuus, meaning “empty.”

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner.

vacuum la-cla

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Astronomy & Space Physics General Vocabulary

External links

# vacuum

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈvæ.kjuːm/
**Frequency rank:** 6310

## Meanings
1. A space that contains no matter or air.
2. An electric machine that cleans floors by suction.
3. To clean something using a vacuum cleaner.
4. An empty feeling left by the loss of someone or something important.

## Examples
- Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.
- He ran the vacuum over the living-room carpet.
- Could you vacuum the carpets before the guests arrive?
- Her retirement left a vacuum at the heart of the team.

## Derived Forms
- electrovacuum
- intervacuum
- nonvacuum
- quasivacuum
- thermal-vacuum
- ultravacuum
- vacuum-clean
- vacuum-cleaned
- vacuum-pack
- vacuum-packed
- vacuumable
- vacuumer

## Related Forms
- vacant
- vacuous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: vacuum

## Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner.

## AI Etymology
Vacuum is borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner. The historical chain includes vacuum (Classical Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as electrovacuum, intervacuum, nonvacuum, and quasivacuum and related forms such as vacant and vacuous. In present use it covers a space that contains no matter or air, an electric machine that cleans floors by suction, and to clean something using a vacuum cleaner.

## Topics
- Astronomy & Space
- Physics
- General Vocabulary

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