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Is there a single word which means "not empty"? That is, a word which one might use to describe a field with one or more cows in it, as opposed to an "empty" field with none?

Full or even partially-full are not appropriate, because the number of animals is indeterminate, and the final count could be a single bull [which are best kept on their own] or fifty cows. Or three sheep. And the field is really only full when there is no more space available.

I'd prefer a single word, to go with the single word "Empty". Currently I'm using "has animals" which I feel is not particularly succinct.

[This is an edit of the original question reproduced below, in an effort to keep it on-topic]

I'm trying to figure out the names for different states of a set of items, empty or non-empty.
What I came up with so far:

EmptyAndFetching,
EmptyAndReady,
HasItemsAndFetching,
HasItemsAndReady,
Error

HasItems seems awkward, I would rather use one word than two.
How do you call a set that is not empty, i.e. has at least one item, in a common language?

Andrew Leach
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Dan
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5 Answers5

33

Mathematicians always use the word nonempty. Maybe you will like it, too.

(of a set or class) not empty; having at least one element or member

GEdgar
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    +1 Especially since this seems to be for a computer program dealing with a set, and nonempty is often used of sets in computer science and programming too, so it is the mot juste. – Jon Hanna Feb 03 '13 at 14:59
  • @jonhanna +1 for mot juste! I concur. – mattacular Feb 03 '13 at 16:22
  • 'non-trivial' is a common mathematical synonym. – Mitch Feb 03 '13 at 17:08
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    Actually, "The milk bottle was nonempty" is different than "The milk bottle was nontrivial". – GEdgar Feb 03 '13 at 18:11
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    @Mitch while that is also used in computer science and programming, it is not synonymous with non-empty in those fields, nor in mathematics. – Jon Hanna Feb 04 '13 at 01:58
  • @JonHanna, GEdgar: I didn't say it was synonymous in natural English, nor that it was an exact synonym. – Mitch Feb 04 '13 at 04:17
  • @Mitch, I also disagree that it is a common mathematical synonym. In fact I would say it is used almost exclusively when there is a 'trivial' object (often a final object) that is different from (or when there is no) 'empty' object (often an initial object). For example, a 'non-trivial' group is one that's not the identity, not just one that's not empty; and (perhaps more relevant) I'd expect a 'non-trivial' space, with no further context, to be one with more than one point. – LSpice Mar 11 '15 at 15:18
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    @LSpice, JonHanna, GEdgar: Yes, you are all right. 'non-trivial' is similar but just not the same thing as nonempty. – Mitch Mar 11 '15 at 15:24
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    @Mitch, ha, one of the rare instances where the sense of "all right" is not "it's all right"! – LSpice Mar 11 '15 at 16:29
16

Dictionary.com has the following for empty:

  1. containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents: an empty bottle.
  2. vacant; unoccupied: an empty house.
  3. without cargo or load: an empty wagon.
  4. destitute of people or human activity: We walked along the empty streets of the city at night.

While there is no real antonym for (1) other than not empty or containing liquid (or cows), the other meanings do have single opposing words,

occupied; laden; populous/populated

If those words aren't suitable, perhaps you might use them to find synonyms.

Andrew Leach
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    I'm abruptly a big fan of 'laden' to describe a string that is neither null, nor empty. I can cope with calling a string 'nonempty' or 'nonnull', but 'nonnull and nonempty' is too much of a mouthful, and really needs shortening given how frequently it's used in computing. – android.weasel Aug 15 '14 at 09:03
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    Agreed. I hate using negatives for boolean names, 'populated' is too long, and 'hasItems' isn't an adjective. 'isLadenArray' sounds perfect. – aaaaaa Apr 22 '16 at 08:28
  • In computer technical writings, it's common to use the term 'populate' when referring to the setting of a variable value. – CJBS Mar 06 '17 at 18:50
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    @android.weasel plus it helps Python code with the convention of Monty Python references. – Bob Stein Jun 29 '19 at 16:30
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    Having said what I said, non-empty implies non-null, even if you have a nullable reference to a set. The question only really started coming up for me when I was forced to use Ruby: before it supported nil short-circuit with bin&.empty? == false, the code was even uglier and less comprehensible. Even now, I would still prefer the terser bin.laden? – android.weasel Sep 23 '19 at 07:42
6

By mathematical terminology, you may consider inhabited or nonempty; both apply to sets. These usually carry the same meaning, but they may differ in non-classical mathematics. The difference is explained on Wikipedia.

I believe you wouldn't mind calling cows inhabitants, would you?

Stéphane Gimenez
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2

In French we use the term "habitation" to express a type which is not empty, i.e., a type for which there is some element of that type. I suggest the same thing in English. Either a set is empty or inhabited.

Jim Newton
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0

I believed this has to be discussed for every example,
but for the cow field, occupied could work.

Glorfindel
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Jonas Seguin
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