"empty nest" meaning in English

See empty nest in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: empty nests [plural]
Etymology: From birds whose offspring leave the nest when they reach maturity. Head templates: {{en-noun}} empty nest (plural empty nests)
  1. A home or a family where the children have grown up and moved away. Translations (home or family where the children have moved away): 空巢 (kōngcháo) (Chinese Mandarin), tyhjä pesä (Finnish), leeres Nest [neuter] (German), puste gniazdo [neuter] (Polish), ninho vazio [masculine] (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-empty_nest-en-noun-bnAnrBaB Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 87 13 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 84 16 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 86 14 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 81 19 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of 'home or family where the children have moved away': 98 2
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see empty, nest. Derived forms: empty nester, empty nest syndrome Related terms: leave the nest
    Sense id: en-empty_nest-en-noun-a5fXP9An

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From birds whose offspring leave the nest when they reach maturity.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "empty nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "empty nest (plural empty nests)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, Celia Dodd, The Empty Nest: Your Changing Family, Your New Direction, Hachette UK, →ISBN:",
          "text": "One woman with a full-on and demanding career e-mailed me to say ‘This empty nest thing is no joke. I didn't realise it would hit me so hard. It is day three of my daughter being gone and I have to resist the urge to weep every time I go past her room.’",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Lisa O. Engelhardt, Empty Nest Therapy, Open Road Media, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Yet an “empty nest” can cause confusing emotions for parents. While this juncture can bring on sadness and loneliness, it can also signal newfound freedom and fulfillment.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A home or a family where the children have grown up and moved away."
      ],
      "id": "en-empty_nest-en-noun-bnAnrBaB",
      "links": [
        [
          "home",
          "home"
        ],
        [
          "family",
          "family"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "kōngcháo",
          "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
          "word": "空巢"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
          "word": "tyhjä pesä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "leeres Nest"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "puste gniazdo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ninho vazio"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "empty nester"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "empty nest syndrome"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see empty, nest."
      ],
      "id": "en-empty_nest-en-noun-a5fXP9An",
      "links": [
        [
          "empty",
          "empty#English"
        ],
        [
          "nest",
          "nest#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "leave the nest"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "empty nest"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "empty nester"
    },
    {
      "word": "empty nest syndrome"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From birds whose offspring leave the nest when they reach maturity.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "empty nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "empty nest (plural empty nests)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "leave the nest"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, Celia Dodd, The Empty Nest: Your Changing Family, Your New Direction, Hachette UK, →ISBN:",
          "text": "One woman with a full-on and demanding career e-mailed me to say ‘This empty nest thing is no joke. I didn't realise it would hit me so hard. It is day three of my daughter being gone and I have to resist the urge to weep every time I go past her room.’",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Lisa O. Engelhardt, Empty Nest Therapy, Open Road Media, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Yet an “empty nest” can cause confusing emotions for parents. While this juncture can bring on sadness and loneliness, it can also signal newfound freedom and fulfillment.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A home or a family where the children have grown up and moved away."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "home",
          "home"
        ],
        [
          "family",
          "family"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see empty, nest."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "empty",
          "empty#English"
        ],
        [
          "nest",
          "nest#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "kōngcháo",
      "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
      "word": "空巢"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
      "word": "tyhjä pesä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "leeres Nest"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "puste gniazdo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "home or family where the children have moved away",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ninho vazio"
    }
  ],
  "word": "empty nest"
}

Download raw JSONL data for empty nest meaning in English (2.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (ee63ee9 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.