Vacuo

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term describing an absence of matter or vacuum in a space
2. indicating a state devoid of air or any particles
3. used in various scientific contexts to reference emptiness in a system

Etymology: Ancient Roman writers had a word for empty space, "vacuum," which is neuter of "vacuus," meaning "empty" or "free of." The form "vacuo" is its ablative case, so "in vacuo" means "in an empty space." Latin speakers used the phrase in its plain sense of being in empty space, not as a physics term. The English sense of "devoid of air" comes from later scientific use. When natural philosophers in early modern Europe began investigating pumped-out chambers and the nature of emptiness, "vacuum" acquired its precise meaning. The Latin phrase "in vacuo" was kept in scientific writing to mean "in a vacuum," which is how physicists still use it. In everyday English the phrase is often used figuratively, to describe a thing considered in isolation from its surroundings, as if removed from the air that normally shapes it.

Synonyms: vacuum, emptiness, void, vacancy, blankness

Antonyms: fullness, occupancy, presence, completeness, crowding