zero

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈzɪə.rəʊ/, US /ˈzɪr.oʊ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French zéro (1515) or directly borrowed from Italian zero (1466),^[2][3] perhaps through Old Spanish zero,^[4][5] an alteration of Medieval Latin zephirum (1202),^[2][6] from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “empty, null, cipher”),^[3][2][7] which translated Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “empty place, desert, naught”).^[3][2] It is a doublet of cipher.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The figure 0, a cipher: 1598 in Merriam-Webster,^[8] 1604 in the OED and Barnhart,^[9][2] about 1600 in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The point marked 0 on a scale, from which reckoning begins, is from 1795,^[3][9] and the temperature at the zero of a thermometer from 1800.^[9] “The lowest point or degree”, as in absolute zero, is by 1820,^[3][9] and the general “initial point” by 1849.^[3] Abstractly, “nothing, nought”, it is by 1823,^[3][9] and a worthless person or thing is from 1813.^[3][9] The adjective is from 1810.^[3][2] Zero hour is from 1917,^[2] zero-sum, in game theory, from 1944, in von Neumann,^[3] and zero tolerance from 1972, in American politics.^[3] The verb, “to set the sights of a rifle”, is from 1913,^[3][9] and zero in from 1944.^[3][2] Barnhart notes that Arabic numerals are written left to right, against the direction of Arabic writing, because of their Indian origin.^[2]

Timeline

• 1598 – the figure 0.^[8]
• 1795 – the zero of a scale.^[3][9]
• 1810 – adjective.^[3][2]
• 1813 – a worthless person.^[3][9]
• 1823 – nought, nothing.^[3][9]
• 1913 – verb, to set rifle sights.^[3][9]
• 1917 – zero hour.^[2]
• 1944 – zero in and zero-sum.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The numerical symbol 0; a cipher.
2. The number that, added to any number, leaves it unchanged; nought.
3. The point on a scale from which measurement begins, or the temperature it marks.
4. The lowest point: hopes fell to zero.
5. (informal) A person of no importance; a nonentity.

Adjective

1. Of or being zero; having no measurable value: zero growth.

Verb

1. To adjust an instrument to zero.
2. To aim at a target, or concentrate on something, with in on.

Word family

• sub-zero
• zero-sum
• zero-emission vehicle
• zero gravity
• zero hour
• zero-point energy
• zero-sum game
• zero vector

Related words

• cipher
• decipher
• nought
• null

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press