The Only Common English Word With Two Us in a Row
A vacuum is a space with no matter in it. The double u is unusual in English, and the word came straight from Latin for empty.
A vacuum is a space containing no matter, or a machine that uses suction. It is one of the very few common English words with two consecutive u's, which is why it is so often misspelled — the others, like *continuum* and *residuum*, are all Latin borrowings that kept their original endings. The old maxim that nature abhors a vacuum is Aristotle's, and physics has since disagreed.
- A space without matter. *A near-perfect vacuum.*
- A cleaning machine. *Run the vacuum round.*
- Verb, to clean. *He vacuumed the stairs.*
- A gap in power. *A political vacuum.*
- Vacuum flask — an insulated container. *A vacuum flask of tea.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | vacuum | A total vacuum. |
| Plural | vacuums | Also vacua in physics. |
| Verb | vacuum | Vacuum the car. |
| Adjective | vacuous | A vacuous remark. |
| Latin | vacuus | Empty. |
- Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.Physics.
- The vacuum needs a new filter.The appliance.
- His resignation left a vacuum at the top.Figurative.
English words with double u
- Vacuum — by far the commonest
- Continuum — a continuous whole
- Residuum — what is left over
- Duumvirate — rule by two people
- All of them are Latin borrowings that kept the -uum ending
Latin *vacuum*, an empty space, the neuter of *vacuus*, empty. English took it in the 1540s; the cleaning machine sense dates from the early 1900s.
Does nature really abhor a vacuum?
Aristotle argued so, and the phrase survives. Modern physics accepts that vacuum exists, and space is very close to one.
What is the plural of vacuum?
Vacuums in ordinary use. Physicists sometimes write vacua, following the Latin.