null

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French nul (“none, not one”) (feminine nulle), and partly borrowed from Latin nūllus (“not any, none”).^[2][3][4][5] The French word is recorded from the mid-9th century, and in the sense "of no legal merit" from the late 13th;^[2] the Anglo-Norman form is found from the early 12th century, also for "null and void".^[6] The Latin adjective joins ne (“not”) with ūllus (“any”), a diminutive of ūnus (“one”);^[7][3][4][8] Klein explains it as a contraction of a phrase meaning "not one".^[9] The verb null (1538) comes from the adjective, after annul and nullo (“to annul”).^[2][5][10] The noun (1605), first for a meaningless letter in a cipher, is from the Latin adjective; as "zero" it follows nulle or nulla.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Scots law, not provided or performed, amounting to nothing: 1450.^[2] The legal sense "void, without force" is recorded from 1542, in the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland;^[2][10] Barnhart dates the adjective to 1563–67,^[3] and Etymonline to the 1560s.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word began in law, especially Scots law,^[2][11] and the phrase null and void is recorded from 1651.^[2] From 1762 it was used in science for something amounting to nothing, such as a point where no force acts.^[2] In 1790, in Burke, it was used for something of no value or importance.^[2] Mathematics used it for a value of zero from 1835, and Bertrand Russell for an empty class in 1903,^[2] which led to the null set.^[12] A null result of an experiment shows that an expected effect is absent (1894).^[2] The noun meant a meaningless letter in a cipher from 1605, in Francis Bacon, and later a character that does nothing in computing (1977);^[2] as "zero" it is recorded from 1648,^[2][10] and in radio from 1931 for a direction in which no signal is received.^[2] In 18th-century slang, the verb null meant to beat.^[13]

Timeline

• 1450 – (Scots law) non-existent, not performed.^[2]
• 1538 – verb, to annul, cancel.^[2]
• 1542 – void, of no legal force.^[2][10]
• 1605 – noun, a meaningless letter in a cipher.^[2]
• 1648 – noun, zero, nought.^[2]
• 1651 – null and void.^[2]
• 1762 – amounting to nothing, non-existent.^[2]
• 1790 – of no value or importance.^[2]
• 1835 – (mathematics) having the value zero.^[2]
• 1903 – (logic and mathematics) of a set, having no members.^[2]
• 1931 – (radio) a direction with no signal.^[2]
• 1977 – (computing) a null character.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (law) Having no legal force; invalid, void; chiefly in null and void: The court declared the contract null and void.
2. Amounting to nothing; nonexistent.
3. Having no value or effect; insignificant.
4. Lacking character or expression; blank.
5. (mathematics) Equal to zero; of a set, having no members.
6. (physics) Of a measurement or experiment, showing the absence of an expected effect.

Noun

1. A nought; zero.
2. (radio and electronics) A point or direction at which no signal is received.
3. (cryptography) A meaningless letter or symbol put into a cipher to confuse anyone trying to read it.
4. (computing) A character that has no effect, used to fill space; a null character.

Verb

1. To make void; to annul.
2. To cancel out or reduce to zero, as a signal or force; often with out.

Word family

• nullification
• nullity
• nullo
• aleph-null
• null and void
• null character
• null hypothesis

Related words

• annul
• nullify
• nil
• none
• one

Usage notes

Weekley notes that the word was originally a legal one, as in null and void.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com