empt

Empt is a chiefly dialectal verb meaning to empty something — to pour out, remove, or clear away its contents. It functions as a shortened or reduced form of the standard English verb 'empty', preserving an older, clipped pronunciation that has endured in everyday speech long after it disappeared from formal writing. The word is heard most often in Northern England and Scotland, where phrases such as 'empt the bins' or 'empt your pockets' remain part of ordinary conversation. Because it belongs to spoken rather than literary usage, it carries a homely, rustic connotation and can sound quaint or marked to listeners unfamiliar with the dialect. Writers who use it deliberately often do so to evoke regional voice or rural setting. For general purposes, 'empty' remains the standard choice, but 'empt' offers a vivid reminder of how living dialect preserves older shapes of familiar words.

To empty something out; to remove the contents of a container or place. Chiefly used in Northern English and Scots dialect as a shortened form of 'empty'.

Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.

Etymology of empt

Empt derives from the same source as the standard verb 'empty', which traces back to Old English ǣmettig ('unoccupied, at leisure'), formed from æmetta ('leisure, rest') — literally 'at ease, unoccupied'. The clipped form arose through natural reduction in rapid northern dialect speech, where final syllables were commonly worn down, and it has been recorded in regional English and Scots for centuries. Its closest relative is simply 'empty' itself, from which it is effectively a dialectal shortening.

How empt is actually used

Register is informal and markedly dialectal; it survives mainly in rural speech in Northern England, Scotland, and parts of the United States influenced by British settler speech. In standard modern English, 'empty' is the expected form.

Easily confused with empt

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Rhymes with empt