vacuum

See also: vacuüm

English

Alternative forms

• vacuüm (rare)

Etymology

From Latin vacuum (“an empty space, void”), noun use of neuter of vacuus (“empty”), related to vacare (“be empty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvæ.kjuːm/, /ˈvæ.kjuː.əm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

vacuum (plural vacuums or (rare, formal) vacua)

1. A region of space that contains no matter.

   Synonyms: vacancy, void

   Antonym: plenum

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, via PC, →ISBN, →OCLC, scene: Citadel Station: Wards Codex entry:

     The Wards are open-topped, with skyscrapers rising from the superstructure. Towers are sealed against vacuum, as the breathable atmosphere envelope is only maintained to a height of about seven meters. The atmosphere is contained by the centrifugal force of rotation and a "membrane" of dense, colorless sulphur hexafluoride gas, held in place by carefully managed mass effect fields.

2. (colloquial, only pluralized as "vacuums") A vacuum cleaner.

   Synonym: (British) hoover

3. The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, such as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.

   a vacuum of 26 inches of mercury, or 13 pounds per square inch

4. (physics) A spacetime having tensors of zero magnitude.
5. An emptiness in life created by a loss of a person who was close, or of an occupation.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 82–83:

     Henrietta soon found a terrible vacuum left, by the letters in which she used to pour forth every feeling and thought to her uncle.

Usage notes

• The Latin in vacuo is sometimes used instead of in a vacuum (in free space).

Derived terms

• double Kerr vacuum
• electrovacuum
• intervacuum
• Kerns-Wild vacuum
• Kerr vacuum
• Khan-Penrose vacuum
• nonvacuum
• Oszváth-Schücking vacuum
• quasivacuum
• Schwarzschild vacuum
• Taub-NUT vacuum
• thermal-vacuum
• ultravacuum
• vacuumable
• vacuum brake
• vacuum bubble
• vacuum-clean
• vacuumer
• vacuumless
• vacuumlike
• vacuumous
• vacuum pose
• vacuum up

 

Related terms

• power vacuum
• vacant
• vacuum cleaner
• vacuum pan
• vacuum valve

 

Translations

region of space that contains no matter

• Albanian: zbrazëti (sq) f, vakum m
• Amharic: ኦና (ʾona)
• Arabic: خَلَاء m (ḵalāʔ), فَرَاغ m (farāḡ), فَضَاء (ar) m (faḍāʔ)
• Armenian: վակուում (hy) (vakuum)
• Basque: huts
• Bulgarian: вакуум (bg) m (vakuum)
• Catalan: buit (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 真空 (zh) (zhēnkōng)

• Czech: vakuum (cs) n
• Danish: vakuum n, tomrum n
• Dutch: vacuüm (nl) n
• Esperanto: vakuo
• Finnish: tyhjiö (fi), vakuumi, tyhjö (fi)
• French: vide (fr) m, vacuum (fr) m
• Galician: baleiro (gl) m
• Georgian: ვაკუუმი (vaḳuumi)
• German: Vakuum (de) n
• Greek: κενό (el) n (kenó)

  Ancient: κένωμα n (kénōma)

• Hebrew: ואקום m, ריק (he) m
• Hungarian: vákuum (hu)
• Icelandic: lofttæmi (is) n, lofttóm (is) n
• Ido: vakuo (io)
• Ilocano: kawaw, kalawakaw
• Indonesian: hampa udara (id), vakum (id)
• Interlingua: vacuo
• Irish: folús (ga) m
• Italian: vuoto (it) m
• Japanese: 真空 (ja) (しんくう, shinkū)
• Khmer: សុញ្ញកាស (soññaʼkaah)
• Korean: 진공(眞空) (ko) (jin'gong)
• Malagasy: mangabangabaka
• Malay: hampagas

  Jawi: ۏاکوم (ms)

  Rumi: vakum (ms)

• Malayalam: ശൂന്യത (ml) (śūnyata)
• Maltese: vojt m, frugħ m
• Maori: korekore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vakuum (no) n

  Nynorsk: vakuum n

• Polish: próżnia (pl) f
• Portuguese: vácuo (pt) m
• Quechua: ch'usaq p'ulin
• Romanian: vid (ro) n
• Russian: ва́куум (ru) m (vákuum)
• Serbo-Croatian: vakum (sh) m / vakuum (sh) m, zrakoprazan prostor
• Slovak: vákuum
• Slovene: vákuum m
• Spanish: vacío (es) m
• Sundanese: ᮛᮧᮠᮍᮔ᮪ ᮠᮕ (rohangan hapa)
• Swahili: ombwe
• Swedish: vakuum (sv) n
• Tagalog: awangin
• Tamil: வெற்றிடம் (ta) (veṟṟiṭam)
• Telugu: శూన్యం (te) (śūnyaṁ)
• Thai: สุญญากาศ (sǔn-yaa-gàat)
• Turkish: vakum (tr)
• Vietnamese: chân không (vi) (真空)
• Welsh: gwactod
• Wolof: féex
• Yiddish: וואַקוּום m (vakuum)
• Zhuang: caenhoengq

vacuum cleaner — see vacuum cleaner

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} vakuumas m

Verb

vacuum (third-person singular simple present vacuums, present participle vacuuming, simple past and past participle vacuumed)

1. (transitive) To clean (something) with a vacuum cleaner.

   Synonym: (British) hoover

   • 2016, Janice M. Whiteaker, Run:

     “Who in the world cleans an attic? That's like vacuuming a shed.”

2. (intransitive) To use a vacuum cleaner.

   Synonyms: (British) to do the hoovering, (British) to hoover

3. (transitive, databases) To optimise a database or database table by physically removing deleted tuples.

Translations

transitive: to clean with a vacuum cleaner

• Arabic: نَظَّفَ بِالْمَكْنَسَة الْكَهْرَبَائِيَّة (naẓẓafa bi-l-maknasa(t) al-kahrabāʔiyya)
• Armenian: փոշեկուլով մաքրել (pʻošekulov makʻrel), փոշեծծիչով մաքրել (pʻošeccičʻov makʻrel)
• Azerbaijani: tozsoranlamaq
• Bashkir: һурҙырыу (hurźırıw)
• Bulgarian: пускам прахосмукачка (puskam prahosmukačka)
• Catalan: passar l'aspiradora
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吸塵／吸尘 (zh) (xīchén), 吸尘 (zh) (xīchén)

• Czech: vysát, vyluxovat
• Danish: støvsuge (da)
• Dutch: stofzuigen (nl)
• Esperanto: polvosuĉi
• Faroese: dustsúgva
• Finnish: imuroida (fi)
• French: passer l’aspirateur (fr)
• German: staubsaugen (de)
• Greek: σκουπίζω (el) (skoupízo)
• Hungarian: porszívózik (hu)
• Icelandic: ryksuga
• Italian: aspirapolverare
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: støvsuge

  Nynorsk: støvsuge

• Polish: odkurzać (pl) impf, odkurzyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: aspirar (pt)
• Russian: пылесо́сить (ru) impf (pylesósitʹ), пропылесо́сить (ru) pf (propylesósitʹ)
• Spanish: aspirar (es)
• Swedish: dammsuga (sv)
• Turkish: süpürmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: пилосо́сити impf (pylosósyty), пропилосо́сити pf (propylosósyty), пилотяжити (pylotjažyty)
• Welsh: hwfro

intransitive: to use a vacuum cleaner

• Armenian: փոշեկուլ անել (pʻošekul anel)
• Bashkir: һурҙырыу (hurźırıw)
• Catalan: passar l'aspiradora
• Czech: vysát, vyluxovat
• Danish: støvsuge (da)
• Dutch: stofzuigen (nl)
• Faroese: dustsúgva
• Finnish: imuroida (fi)
• French: passer l’aspirateur (fr)
• German: staubsaugen (de)
• Greek: σκουπίζω (el) (skoupízo)
• Hungarian: porszívózik (hu)
• Icelandic: ryksuga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: støvsuge

  Nynorsk: støvsuge

• Polish: odkurzać (pl) impf, odkurzyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: aspirar (pt)
• Russian: пылесо́сить (ru) impf (pylesósitʹ), пропылесо́сить (ru) pf (propylesósitʹ)
• Spanish: aspirar (es)
• Swedish: dammsuga (sv)
• Welsh: hwfro

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} mundar con le aspirator
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} lage vakuum
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} vysávať

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va.kɥɔm/

Noun

vacuum m (plural vacuums)

1. vacuum (space containing no matter)

   Synonym: vide

Descendants

• Turkish: vakum

Further reading

• “vacuum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) vacuum

1. accusative neuter singular of vacuus

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin vacuum.

Noun

vacuum n (plural vacuumuri)

1. vacuum

Declension

Declension of vacuum

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) vacuum	vacuumul	(niște) vacuumuri	vacuumurile
genitive/dative	(unui) vacuum	vacuumului	(unor) vacuumuri	vacuumurilor
vocative	vacuumule		vacuumurilor

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Spanish

Alternative forms

• vácuum (recommended)

Noun

vacuum m (plural vacuums)

1. vacuum