nul

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nūllus (“none”). First attested in 1888.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈnul]

Adjective

nul (feminine nul·la, masculine plural nuls, feminine plural nul·les)

1. null, insignificant, negligible
   • 2020 August 8, Àlex Bustos, “Tres dones que aspiren a derrocar “l’últim dictador d’Europa” [Three women who aspire to take down "the last dictator in Europe"]”, in Ara‎:

     Bielorússia ha sigut l’únic país europeu que ha continuat vivint com si no hi hagués pandèmia. L’actuació del govern per combatre la malaltia ha sigut pràcticament nul·la.

     Belarus has been the only European country who has continued living as if there were no pandemic. The government's action to combat the disease has been practically null.

2. useless, inept

   Synonyms: inútil, inepte

3. null, void, invalid
4. null, absent, non-existent

   Synonyms: absent, inexistent

References

Further reading

• “nul” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “nul” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “nul” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

From Italian nullo (“no, not any; null”) or French nul (“no, no one”), from Middle French nul (“nobody; no one”), from Old French nul (“nobody; no one”), both from Latin nūllus (“no one, none, not any”), from Proto-Italic *ne oinolos, from Proto-Italic *oinos (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *óynos, perhaps from *éy (“he, she, it”) + *-nós (creates verbal adjectives).

The interjection, noun and pronoun are all derived from the numeral itself.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnol/, [ˈnɔl]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

• Rhymes: -ɔl
• Hyphenation: nul

Numeral

nul

1. zero (the cardinal number occurring before one and that denotes no quantity or amount at all, represented in Arabic numerals as 0)

   nul huller og nul grader ― zero holes and zero degrees

   nul komma fem ― very short time; a moment

   patient nul ― patient zero

   • 1991, BT:

     Jeg knoklede og knoklede for at sælge biler. Men når året så var omme, kunne jeg kun præstere en fortjeneste på nul kroner

     I worked and worked hard to sell cars. But when the year was over, I could only make a profit of zero kroner

   • 1992, Bo Bedre:

     Ryglænet skubbes fremad, fjedermekanismen udløses, og i løbet af nul komma fem er sofaen forvandlet til seng

     The backrest is pushed forward, the spring mechanism is released, and during a short moment the sofa is turned into a bed

   • 2020, BT:

     Jhvad ved vi om selve virussens 'fødsel'? Og hvem er den såkaldte patient nul, der bar smitten som den første?

     what do we know about the 'birth' of the virus itself? And who is the so-called patient zero who carried the infection as the first?

   • 2017, Zetland:

     En fransk analyse af virussens DNA har via elegante teknikker fundet frem til udbruddets begyndelse, til patient nul

     A French analysis of the virus' DNA has, via elegant techniques, found the beginning of the outbreak, to patient zero

2. zero (the point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates)

   Synonym: nulpunkt

   at være, gå eller stå på nul ― to be, go to or stay at zero

   • 1989, Ib Michael, Kilroy Kilroy:

     I cockpittets glasæg har alle instrumentvisere fundet sig et leje og dirrer omkring et punkt; kun brændstofmåleren falder langsomt tilbage mod nul

     In the glass egg of the cockpit, all instrument indicators have found a bearing and vibrate around a point; only the fuel gauge slowly drops back to zero

   • 1998, Berlingske Tidende:

     den økonomiske status for Danmark er ene og alene betalingsbalancen, og den er i nul

     the economic status of Denmark is solely the balance of payments, and it is at zero

Interjection

nul

1. (colloquial) no way (absolutely not; under no circumstances)

   Synonyms: niks, nix, du kan tro nej

   nul Putte/putte ― used to reject something or someone

   • 1991, Weekendavisen:

     hun må da have en vilje og en karakter af jern. Flere gange har jeg tænkt: Nu må hun da bøje af, men nul!

     she must then have a will and a character of iron. Several times I have thought: Now she must bend down, but no way!

   • 1985, Klaus Lynggaard, Martin & Victoria:

     Jeg kunne selvfølgelig være gået på biblioteket igen, men hvis hun nu troede, at jeg fulgte efter hende? Ah-ah, nul putte, det indtryk skulle hun heller ikke få

     I could of course have gone to the library again, but what if she now thought I was following her? Ah-ah, whatever then, she shouldn't get that impression either

Noun

nul n (singular definite nullet, plural indefinite nuller)

1. the numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.

   En million er et ettal med seks nuller efter.

   One million is a one followed by six zeros.

   Ganger vi med 100, sætter vi bare to nuller efter 53 og får så 5300.

   If we multiply by 100, we just put [place] two zeros after 53 and then get 5300.

2. zero (the number sign 0 as an expression of an assessment or a result)

   holde nullet ― keep the opponents from scoring during a football match

   • 1991, B.T.:

     Fru Boel Jørgensen leder ikke teatret! Det eneste hun gør, er at prøve at nå et nul i regnskabet inden udgangen af dette år

     Mrs. Boel Jørgensen does not lead the theater! All she does is try to reach a zero in the accounts before the end of this year

   • 2011, Nordjyske.dk:

     Thomas Sørensen holdt nullet i Stoke-sejr. Landsholdsmålmand Thomas Sørensen fik tiltrængt spilletid og holdt buret rent i Stokes 1-0-sejr over Thun

     Thomas Sørensen kept a clean sheet in Stoke's victory. National team goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen got much-needed playing time and kept the cage clean in Stokes' 1-0 victory over Thun

   • 1999, Politiken:

     Næstved holdt nullet i 68 minutter, så blev bolden hamret forbi Finn Jeppesen af Brøndbys 18-årige topscorer: Michael Laudrup

     Næstved held zero for 68 minutes, then the ball was hammered past Finn Jeppesen by Brøndby's 18-year-old top scorer: Michael Laudrup

   • 2000, Politiken:

     Den debuterende målmandsreserve stod en brandkamp og holdt nullet i en for hans vedkommende travl affære

     The debutant goalkeeper reserve stood a great match and kept zero in a busy affair for him

3. (figuratively) a nobody, a nonentity

   Synonym: nullert

   • 1984, Frank Jensen, Organisationen:

     Han var, rent ud sagt, en lille lort, halvdranker, halvjunkie, småtyv – der altid blev taget. Et nul

     He was, quite frankly, a little shit, half-drunk, half-junkie, petty thief - who was always taken. A nobody

4. (in the plural) 2000s (the first decade of the 21st century)

Pronoun

nul (uninflected)

1. (determiner) no, nothing

   Synonyms: ingen, intet

   nul og niks ― absolutely nothing; meaningless, worthless

   • 1991, B.T.:

     sigtbarheden var lig nul, men alligevel fortsatte vi med at lede sammen med de øvrige skibe i området i adskillige timer

     visibility was zero, but still we continued to lead with the other ships in the area for several hours

   • 1998, Sven Bugtrup, Nu får jeg tid til kærlighed:

     [han] er klar til at betale prisen. Ingen kærester, nul spiritus, sund mad og tidligt i seng

     [he] is ready to pay the price. No girlfriends, zero booze, healthy food and early to bed

   • 1986, Femina:

     da jeg vågnede søndag morgen, var der nul og niks tilbage af min energi fra dagen før

     when I woke up Sunday morning, there was absolutely nothing left of my energy from the day before

   • 1991, B.T.:

     Hvad med landsholdet? "I den sammenhæng har jeg altid været nul og niks .."

     What about the national team? "In that context, I have always been worthless .."

Etymology

From Middle Dutch nul, from Middle French nul, from Old French nul, nulle (modern French nul) or Italian nulla, from Latin nūlla, from Latin nūllus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nʏl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nul
• Rhymes: -ʏl

Numeral

nul

1. zero, nought

Noun

nul m (plural nullen, diminutive nulletje n)

1. (mathematics) a zero, naught, the numerical expression of none, nothing
2. (figuratively) a score of zero, the worst possible result
3. (figuratively) a good-for-nothing, worth-/use-less person

Adjective

nul (used only predicatively, not comparable)

1. (archaic) nul, void
2. worthless

Etymology

Back-formation from nulo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nul]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nul

Numeral

nul

1. zero

   Akvo glaciiĝas je nul celsiaj gradoj.

   Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French nul, from Old French nul, from Latin nūllus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nyl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Determiner

nul (feminine nulle)

1. (indefinite, singular only) no, none

Adjective

nul (feminine nulle, masculine plural nuls, feminine plural nulles)

1. of poor quality, lousy, rubbish
2. lame

Noun

nul m (plural nuls, feminine nulle)

1. (colloquial) a completely unskilled person
2. (sports) a draw

Pronoun

nul m (feminine nulle)

1. (literary) no one, nobody

Further reading

• “nul”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• l’un

Etymology

From Old French nul, from Latin nūllus.

Pronoun

nul

1. nobody; no one
   • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 65:

     nul ne le povoit mieulx faire

     nobody could do it better

Adjective

nul m (feminine singular nulle, masculine plural nuls, feminine plural nulles)

1. none (not any)

Etymology

From Latin nūllus.

Pronoun

nul (singular, nominative nus or nuls)

1. nobody; no one

Adjective

nul m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nule)

1. none (not any)

Etymology

Borrowed from French nul.

Adjective

nul m or n (feminine singular nulă, masculine plural nuli, feminine and neuter plural nule)

1. null, insignificant
2. worthless, incompetent (of people or actions)

   Este nul la matematica. ― He/she is a zilch at mathematics.

3. (mathematics) null, zero

   Antonym: nenul

4. (law) null, void (holding no legal power)

Alternative forms

• nulla (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan)
• nola, nula (Sutsilvan)
• nolla (Surmiran, Puter, Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin nūllus.

Numeral

nul

1. (Sursilvan) zero