Evacuated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Removed all people or animals from a location to ensure safety ; emptied or cleared of all contents, leaving it vacant or bare
2. Led to the movement of individuals or animals away from danger ; caused to be free of all items or occupants
3. Caused the departure of inhabitants or creatures from a hazardous area ; made empty by taking out all contents

Etymology: The verb "evacuated" is the past tense and past participle of "evacuate", so its history is that of the base verb. "Evacuate" comes from the Latin "evacuare", meaning "to empty out", built from "e" or "ex" ("out") and "vacuus" ("empty"). That same Latin root also gives English "vacuum" and "vacant", so the word is closely related to them. The earliest English sense was literal and bodily. For centuries, "evacuate" meant to empty the bowels or to discharge something from the body, and medical writers used it in this way long before it described moving people. The sense of clearing a place of its inhabitants, as when a town is emptied before an attack or a flood, developed later and became the dominant use.

Synonyms: removed, cleared, withdrawn

Antonyms: occupied, settled