Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “vacant” come from?

Vacant comes from Old French vacant, from Latin vacans, the present participle of vacāre meaning "to be empty," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁weh₂-.

vacant (English): Not occupied; empty; Showing no intelligence or...

Definitions

  1. Not occupied; empty; Showing no intelligence or...

Ancestry of “vacant”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchvacant—
2Latinvacāns—

Words derived from “vacant”

  • vacancy
  • vacantly
  • divacancy
  • monovacancy
  • vacantness
  • multivacancy
  • nonvacant
  • trivacancy
Every word from Latin vacāns →