Etymologically
Log in

zero

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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