Empty-Handed
/ˌɛmpti ˈhændɪd/noun
Having nothing in one’s hands, especially bringing or receiving nothing.
Did you know?In many historical cultures, arriving empty-handed could signal poverty, defeat, or failure to bring an offering—making the phrase subtly ritualistic as well as practical.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*man-
“Hand; the bodily root ancestral to the hand-words in several Indo-European languages.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*handuz
“Hand; the Germanic ancestor of English hand.”
Old English
Old English
ǣmettig
“Empty, unoccupied, or at leisure; the ancestor of empty.”
Old English
Old English
hand
“Hand, the part of the body used for grasping and acting.”
Middle English
English
empti hand / empty-handed
“With nothing in one’s hands; the phrase develops as a descriptive compound.”
Modern English
English
empty-handed
“Having brought, obtained, or received nothing.”
Explore more surprising origins