emporium 
u Berlin, Madrid, and Lisbon, w.n then a mean and ill- 
Iniilt iimrket-tmvn, oonteiDtng unilcr >i\ th<ms;unl people. 
M,i,;:>i/<"i, MM. Kli^'., iii. 
2. A bazaar ; a shop or store for the sale of a 
great variety of articles. 
It Is pride, avarice, or voluptuousness which fills our 
streets, iiur ' int'1't-iunt.f, our theatres with all the bustle of 
liusinesa and alacrity of motion. 
V. Knox, The Lord's Supper, xxi. 
lie wax clail in u new collection of garments which lie 
had bought ut a large ready-made clothing emjmriinn tint 
morning. The Century, XXXV. 678. 
3f. In anc. nicil., the brain, because there all 
mental affairs are transacted, 
empoundt (era-pound'), v. t. See impound. 
empovert, . t. [Early mod. E. enpover ; < OF. 
fiiiporrir, ruporrrir, i II/KI uvrir, empovei'er, make 
poor : see emporish and impoverish.] To impov- 
erish. 
Lest they should themselves enpover 
And be brought into decaye. 
Roy aiul Barlow, Rede Me and Be nott Wrothe, p. 100. 
empoverisht (em-pov'er-ish), v. t. See impov- 
mm. 
empower (em-pou'er), v. t. [Formerly also im- 
power; < em- 1 + power.'] 1. To give power or 
authority to ; authorize, as by law, commission, 
letter of attorney, verbal license, etc.: as, the 
commissioner is empowered to make terms. 
Him he trusts with every key 
Of highest charge, hnttow'ring him to Frame, 
As he thought best, his whole (Economy. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, I. 143. 
The Regulating Act . . . empowered the Crown to re- 
move him [Hastings) on an address from the Company. 
Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
2. To impart power or force to ; give efficacy 
to; enable. 
Does not the same force that enables them to heal em- 
power them to destroy? Baker, Refl. on Learning. 
= Syn. 1. To commission, license, warrant, qualify. 
empresario (em-pro-sa'ri-d), . [Sp. empresa- 
rio = Pg. emprezario = It. impresario, an un- 
dertaker, manager, theatrical manager: see im- 
presario.] 1. In parts of the United States 
acquired from Mexico, one who projects and 
manages a mercantile or similar enterprise, or 
takes a leading part in it, for his own profit and 
at his own risk, usually implying the possession 
and control of a concession or grant from gov- 
ernment in the nature of a privilege or monop- 
oly. 2. More specifically, a contractor who en- 
gages with the Mexican government to intro- 
duce a body of foreign settlers. Also called 
hobladore. 
empress (em'pres), n. [< ME. empresse, emper- 
csse, emperes, emperise, cmperice, emprise, im- 
peres, < OF. enyereis, empereris, empereresse, F. 
imperatrice = Pr. emperairitz = Sp. emperatriz 
= Pg. imperatriz = It. imperatrice, < L. impera- 
ti'i.r, inperatrix, ace. -tricem, fern, of imperator, 
inperator, emperor: see emperor.'} 1. A woman 
who rules over an empire ; a woman invested 
with imperial power or sovereignty. 
Mary, moder, blessyd mayde, 
Queue of hevyn, Imperes of helle, 
Sende me grace both nyst and daye ! 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 358. 
And sovereign law, that state's collected will, 
O'er thrones and globes, elato, 
Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. 
Sir "'. Jones, Ode in Imitation of Alctcus. 
2. The wife or the widow of an emperor: in the 
latter case called specifically empress dowager. 
She sweeps It through the conrt with troops of ladies, 
More like an empress than duke Humphrey's wife. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., 1. 3. 
Not Ciesar's cmprett would I deign to prove. 
Pope, Elolsa to Abelard, 1. 87. 
Empress cloth, a woolen stuff for women's wear, having 
a finely repped or corded surface. Empress gauze, a 
fine transparent stuff, made of silk, or silk and linen, and 
having a design, usually of a flower-pattern, woven in in 
silk. 
empresset, ''. i. See impress*. 
empressement (on-pres'mon), n. [F., < em- 
l>rixxcr, reti., be eager, bustling, ardent, for- 
ward: see tapnml.] Eagerness; cordiality; 
demonstrative demeanor. 
empridet (em-prid'), r. t. [ME. rmpridrn : < cm- 1 
-t- pride.'] To excite pride in; make proud. 
And whenne thisjournee was done, Pausamy was gret- 
ly etnprulede theroff, and went into the kynges palace for 
to take the nwene Olympias outc of it. and hafe bir with 
hym. MS. Lincoln, A. L 17, fol. 8. 
emprintt (em -print'), n. and . An obsolete 
form of imprint. 
emprise (em-priz'), n. [< ME. emprise, rn/'i /*/ . 
< OF. cm/irixc (= Pr. emprrza, c>ni>rci:a = Sp. 
I'mpresa = Pg. empreza, emprcua = It. impri-xn : 
ML. imprisa, imprisia, impresia), undertaking, 
J-0 
1905 
expedition, enterprise, < empris, pp. of empren- 
iln; fiiprrnilre = Sp. emprender = Pg. emprehen- 
der = It. tmprendere, undertake, < L. in, in, on, 
+ }ireltendere,prcii(ler<; take, seize: eeeprehend, 
apprehend, etc., and cf. enterprise, equiv. to em- 
prise, but with diff. prefix.] An undertaking; 
an enterprise; an adventure; also, adventur- 
ousness. Also emprize. [Now chiefly poetical.] 
Ye beene tall, 
And large of limb t' atchleve an hard emprize. 
Spenter, F. Q., III. lit 63. 
One hundred and sixty-six lances were broken, when 
the emprite was declared to be fairly achieved. 
Pretcott, Ferd. and ISA., Int. 
The deeds of high emprise I sing. 
Longfellow, Wayside Inn, Interlude. 
emprise t, >' t. [< emprise, n.] To undertake. 
In secret drifts I linger'd day and night, 
All how I might depose this cruel king, 
That seem'd to all so much desired a thing, 
As thereto trusting I em-prised the same. 
Sacknillf, Duke of Buckingham, st. 68. 
emprisont (em-priz'n), v. t. An obsolete form 
of imprison. 
einprosthotonos (em-pros-thot'o-nos), n. [< 
Or. c/tfrpoaOoTovof, drawn forward and stiffened 
(deriv. i/jirpoctioTovia, tetanic procurvation), < 
ifiirpoaOev, in front, forward, before (< cv, in, 
+ irp6at)cv, before), + reivttv, stretch, rovof, a 
stretching.] In pathol., tonic muscular spasm, 
bending the body forward, or in the opposite di- 
rection from opisthotonos. Also called epistho- 
tonos. 
emptet, '' An obsolete form of empty. 
emptier (omp'ti-er), . One who or that which 
empties or exhausts. 
For the Lord bathe turned away the glory of Jaakob, 
as the glorie of Israel : for the emptiers haue emptied 
them out and marred their vine branches. 
Geneva Bible, Nahum II. 2. 
emptiness (emp'ti-nes), n. [< empty + -ness.'] 
1 . The state of being empty ; the state of con- 
taining nothing, or nothing but air: as, the 
emptiness of a vessel. 
The moderation of slepe must be measured by helthe 
and syckenes, by age, by time, by emptyness or fulnesse 
of the body, -v by natural! complexions. 
Sir T. Slynt, Castle of Health, ii. 
His coffers sound 
With hollow poverty and emptiness. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. 3. 
2. Lack of food in the stomach; a state of 
fasting. 
Monks, anchorites, and the like, after much emptinett, 
become melancholy. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 611. 
3. Void space ; a vacuum. 
Nor could another in your room have been. 
Except an emptiness had come between. Dryden. 
4. Want of solidity or substance. 
"I'is this which causes the graces and the loves ... to 
subsist in the emptiness of light and shadow. 
Dryden, tr. of Dufresnoy's Art of Painting, Pref. 
5. Unsatisfactoriness ; insufficiency to satisfy 
the mind or heart ; worthlessness. 
frail estate of human things, 
Now to our cost your emptiness we know. Dryden. 
Form the judgment about the worth or emptiness of 
things here, according as they are or are not of use in 
relation to what is to come after. /;/-. Atterbury. 
Q. Want of understanding or knowledge ; vacu- 
ity of mind ; inanity. 
Eternal smiles his emptiness betray. 
Pope, Prol. to Satires, 1. 316. 
Knowledge is now no more a fountain seal'd : 
Drink deep, until the habits of the slave, 
The sins of emptiness, gossip and spite 
And slander, die. Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
= Syn. 5. Vanity, hollowness, nothingness, 
emption (emp'shon), n. [< L. emptio(n-). a 
buying, < emptus, "pp. of emere, buy, orig. take : 
see adempt, exempt, redeem, redemption, etc.] 1. 
Buying; purchase. [Rare.] 2f. That which 
is bought ; provision ; supply. 
He that stands charged with my Lordes House for the 
houtl Yeir, if he maye possible, shall he at all Kaires, 
where the groice Emptions shall be boughte for the 
House for the honll Ycir, as Wine, Wax, Belffes, Multons, 
\\ heite and Malt. (1612.) 
Quoted in Bourne's Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 360. 
emptionalt (emp'shon-al), a. [< emptw + -al.] 
That may be purchased. 
empty (emp'ti), a. and n. [< ME. empty, emty, 
emti, amti, < AS. mntiq, emtig, avnetig, emctig, 
vacant, empty, free, idle, < 'anneta, a-iiiettn. ;- 
ta, leisure (cf. the verb n-intinn, be at leisure).] 
I. n. 1. ( 'ontaining nothing, or nothing bvit air; 
void of its usual or of appropriate contents; 
vacant ; unoccupied : said of any inclosure or 
allotted space : as, &n empty house or room ; an 
chest or purse ; an empty chair or saddle. 
empty 
And thaugh the brigge hadde ben all clene empty It 
hadde not be no light tlilnge for to haue passed. 
Merlin (E. E. T. .), II. 288. 
Tears of the widower, uln n he sees 
A late-lost form that sleep reveals. 
And moves his doubtful arms, and feels 
Her place U empty. Tennyson, In .Memoriam, iiii. 
At the Round Table of King Arthur there was left al- 
ways one scat empty for him who should accomplish the 
adventure of the Holy <;rail. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 124. 
2. Void; devoid; destitute of some essential 
quality or component. 
Art thou thus bolden'd, man, by thy distress, 
Or else a rude despiser of good manners, 
That in civility thou seem st so ci/rfv 
Shale., As you Like It, II. 7. 
They are honest, wise, 
Not empty of one ornament of man. 
Beau, and ft., Knight of Malta, I. 3. 
3. Destitute of force, effect, significance, or 
value; without valuable content ; meaningless: 
as, empty words; empty compliments. 
A word may be of . . . great credit with several authors, 
and be by them made use of as if it stood for some real 
being ; but yet if he that reads cannot frame any distinct 
Idea of that being, It is certain to him a mere empty sound, 
without a meaning, and he learns no more by all that Is 
said of it, or attributed to it, than if it were affirmed ouly 
of that bare empty sound. 
Locke, Conduct of Understanding, I 28. 
In nice balance, truth with gold she weighs, 
And solid pudding against empty praise. 
Pope, Dunciad, i. 54. 
A concept Is to be considered as .;/'/'." and as referring 
to no object, if the synthesis which it contains does not 
belong to experience. 
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, tr. by Max Muller. 
Death and misery 
But empty names were grown to be. 
Wiiliiiin Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 366. 
4. Destitute of knowledge or sense ; ignorant: 
as, an empty coxcomb. 
Gaping wonder of the empty crowd. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, III. 100. 
5. Forlorn from destitution or deprivation ; 
desolate; deserted. 
She [Nineveh] is empty, and void, and waste. 
Nahum ii. 10. 
fiose up against him a great fiery wall. 
Built of vain longing and regret and fear, 
Dull empty loneliness, and blank despair. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, III. 369. 
6. Wanting substance or solidity ; lacking re- 
ality; unsubstantial; unsatisfactory: as, empty 
air; empty dreams; empty pleasures. 
Frivolities which seemed empty as bubbles. 
Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, i. 
7f. Not burdened; not bearing a burden or a 
rider: as, an empty horse. 8. Not supplied; 
without provision. 
They . . . beat him, and sent him away emptu. 
Mark xll. 3. 
They all knowing Smith would not returne emptir, if It 
were to be had. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's True Travels, I. 205. 
9. Wanting food ; fasting ; hungry. 
My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty. 
Shak.,T. of theS.,ir. 1. 
10. Bearing no fruit ; without useful product. 
Seven empty ears blasted with the east wind. 
Gen. xll. 27. 
Israel is an empty vine. Hos. x. 1. 
11. Producing no effect or result; ineffectual. 
The sword of Saul returned not empty. 2 Sam. I. 22. 
Only the case, 
Her own poor work, her empty labour, left. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
Empty engine, a locomotive running without a car or 
train attached. IColloq.] =8yn. 1. Void , etc. (see racnnf); 
unoccupied, bare, unfurnished. 4. Weak, silly, senseless. 
6. Unsatisfying, vain, hollow. 
II. n. ; pi. empties (-tiz). An empty vessel 
or other receptacle, as a box or sack, packing- 
case, etc.; an empty vehicle, as a cab, freight- 
car, etc. : as, returned empties. [Colloq.] 
"Well," says Leigh Hunt, "I found him [a cabman] 
returning from Hammersmith, and he said as an empty 
he would take me for half fare." 
Franca Gmndy, In Personal Traits of British Anthers, 
(p. 241. 
empty (emp'ti), r. ; pret. and pp. emptied, ppr. 
emptying. [Also E. dial, empt ; < ME. emptfti. 
tr. make empty, intr. be or become vacant, < 
AS. remtian, intr., be vacant, be at leisure, < 
"irmt-ta. temrttti, leisure : see empty, a., on which 
the verb in mod. use directly depends.] I. 
trans. 1. To deprive of contents; remove, pour, 
or draw out the contents from ; make vacant : 
with of before the thing removed: as, to empty 
a well or a cistern; to empty a pitcher or a 
purse; to empty a house of its occupants. 
