vacate

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vacate

/veɪˈkeɪt/
/ˈveɪ.keɪt/
/vəˈkeɪt/ uncommon

Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

Originally used in the legal sense "to annul", a denominal from Early Modern English vacat (“legal annulment”), a development from Middle English vacat (“absence or cancellation noted in a register”), from Latin vacat, third-person singular present active indicative of vacō (“to be idle; to be unoccupied”, literally “to be empty”).

The primary modern sense "to move out" likely developed under the influence of older borrowing vacant (“unoccupied”), in combination with the Early Modern use of vacate to refer to the termination of official appointments to office, which would leave those position vacant.

verb vacates · vacating · vacated

To move out of a dwelling or other property, either by choice or by eviction. I have to vacate my house by midday, as the new owner is moving in.
To leave an office or position. He vacated his coaching position because of the corruption scandal.
transitive To have a court judgement set aside; to annul. The judge vacated the earlier decision when new evidence was presented.
To leave an area, usually as a result of orders from public authorities in the event of a riot or natural disaster. If you do not immediately vacate the area, we will make you leave with tear gas!

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: give up, abandon, resign, renounce, empty, evacuate, evict, depart, exit, evac, leave, dislodge, expulsion, quit, release, liberate

Translations

Every language

verb to move out

Español	desalojar
हिन्दी	ख़ाली करना xālī karnā
Português	vacar, vagar
Русский	освобожда́ть osvoboždátʹ, освободи́ть osvobodítʹ
العربية	أخْلَا

verb to leave an office

Español	dejar vacante, hacer vacar
العربية	تَرَكَ taraka

verb to have court judgement set aside

العربية	أبْطَلَ, نَحّى

verb to leave an area

Español	desalojar

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Cite this

MLA

"vacate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/vacate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

vacate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/vacate

Chicago

"vacate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/vacate.

BibTeX

@misc{vacate_2026,
  title = {vacate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vacate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}