Etymologically
Log in

zephirum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 04:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈzeː.pʰɪ.rũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈd͡zɛː.fi.rum][1]

Forms

zēphirum n (genitive zēphirī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”),[1][2] a borrowing that Wiktionary calls probable.[1] Etymonline describes the Arabic word as a translation of a word for “empty place, nothing” in Sanskrit.[2] It is a doublet of cīfra “cipher”, from the same Arabic word.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wiktionary dates its first use to 1202, by the Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci.[1]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it was the mathematical term for the figure 0.[1] Italian took it as zero, which reached English zero about 1600, directly or through French zéro;[2][1] New Latin had zērum, and Spanish has cero.[1]

Timeline

  • 1202 – Leonardo Fibonacci uses it.[1]
  • c. 1600 – English zero, from French or Italian.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, mathematics) Zero, the figure 0.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com