zéro French · revision 15739

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1485, Jehan Certain, Le Kadran des marchans|origins=ar صفر}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ze.ʁo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zéro''' ''m'' (plural zéros)^(Wiktionary)

+ Written ''zero'' by the Académie in 1694 and 1718, ''zéro'' from 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|zero]] (1491–1494), a contraction of [[m|it|zefiro]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) from [[la-med|zephirum]], a transcription of [[ar|صفر|tr=ṣifr|t=empty; zero]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(Académie 9)^(FEW|19, 157b) The Arabic word had already been borrowed as Old French “cifre” “zero”, whence [[chiffre]], its doublet; when “chiffre” came to mean any digit, “zéro” took over its first sense.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) The concept reached the Arabs from Indian mathematics,^(DHLF 1992) and Littré notes that the Arabic word translates a Sanskrit word with the same two senses, “empty” and “zero”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jehan Certain's ''Kadran des marchans'' (1485) explains that the tenth figure is worth nothing but gives value to the others, ''et se nomme zero ou chiffre''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figuratively, as early as 1512 (Jean Lemaire de Belges), a ''zéro'' is a person of no worth, as in ''compter quelqu'un pour un zéro'' (Retz).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Se réduire au zéro'' “to be ruined” is in Cotgrave (1611), and ''réduire à zéro'' from 1761; as a numeral adjective, ''zéro'' is recorded in 1690.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ From the 18th century the word marks the starting point of the scale of measuring instruments (1757), especially thermometers, hence ''au-dessous de zéro'' (1813) and ''zéro absolu'' (1818).^(DHLF 1992) In school marking it is the lowest grade, as in ''zéro de conduite'' (1911).^(DHLF 1992) Familiar phrases include ''partir de zéro'' (1840, Balzac), ''repartir à zéro'' (1938) and ''avoir le moral à zéro'' (1947).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1485 – The figure 0 (Jehan Certain).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1491–1494 – Italian ''zero''.^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1512 – A person of no worth (Lemaire de Belges).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1611 – ''Se réduire au zéro'' (Cotgrave).^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – A numeral adjective.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1757 – The zero of a scale.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1818 – ''Zéro absolu''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1840 – ''Partir de zéro'' (Balzac).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|zero|alt=Zero]], the figure 0; a quantity of nothing.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The zero point of a [[m|en|scale]], especially on a thermometer: ''dix degrés au-dessous de zéro''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A person of no worth; a [[m|en|nonentity]].^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The lowest mark: ''zéro de conduite''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Numeral===

+ # Zero, no: ''zéro faute''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chiffre]]

+ * [[en|zero]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}