Etymologically
Log in

null

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 22:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /nʌl/[1]
  • US: /nʌl/, /nʊl/[1]

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
  • 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