zero

Alternative forms

• Zero, ZERO

Etymology

Borrowed from English zero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈziro], [ˈziˈro]^[1]

Noun

zero

1. (international standards) NATO & ICAO radiotelephony clear code (spelling-alphabet name) for the digit 0.

   Synonym: nadazero (ITU/IMO)

References

Etymology

English Wikipedia has an article on:

zero

Wikipedia

From French zéro, from Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “void, nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈzɪə.ɹəʊ/
• (General American) enPR: zîrʹō('), zēʹrō('), IPA^(key): /ˈzɪɹ(ˌ)oʊ/, /ˈzi(ˌ)ɹoʊ/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈzɪə.ɹəʉ/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈzɪə.ɹaʉ/
• Hyphenation: ze‧ro
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹəʊ, -iːɹəʊ

Numeral

zero

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

   The conductor waited until the passenger count was zero.

   A cheque for zero dollars and zero cents crashed the computers on division by zero.

Noun

zero (countable and uncountable, plural zeros or zeroes)

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

   In unary and k-adic notation in general, zero is the empty string.

   Write 0.0 to indicate a floating point number rather than the integer zero.

   The zero sign in American Sign Language is considered rude in some cultures.

2. The digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.

   One million has six zeroes.

   • 2024 January 4, Matthew Sparkes, “First working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers”, in New Scientist‎, retrieved 2024-01-18:

     This effectively allows switching on and off of the flow of current, so it is either conducting or not conducting, creating the binary system of zeroes and ones used in digital computers.

3. (informal, uncountable) Nothing, or none.

   The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.

   He knows zero about humour.

   In the end, all of our hard work amounted to zero.

4. The value of a magnitude corresponding to the cardinal number zero.

   The electromagnetic field does not drop all of the way to zero before a reversal.

   • 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:

     Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

5. The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.

   The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.

6. (mathematics) A value of the independent variables of a function, for which the function is equal to zero.

   The zeroes of a polynomial are its roots by the fundamental theorem of algebra.

   The derivative of a continuous, differentiable function that twice crosses the axis must have a zero.

   The nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function may all lie on the critical line.

   • 2006, Ivan Francis Wilde, Lecture Notes on Complex Analysis, Imperial College Press, page 153:

     As the next example shows, the set of zeros may well have a limit point not belonging to the domain.

8. (mathematics, algebra) The additive identity element of a monoid or greater algebraic structure, particularly a group or ring.

   Since a commutative zero is the inverse of any additive identity, it must be unique when it exists.

   The zero (of a ring or field) has the property that the product of the zero with any element yields the zero.

   The quotient ring over a maximal ideal is a field with a single zero element.

9. (slang) A person of little or no importance.

   They rudely treated him like a zero.

10. (military, usually capitalized) A Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a long range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945.
    • 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The New Age of Regionalism”, in The Vantage Point‎, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 361:

      The visit to Townsville was filled with nostalgia for me. I remembered very well staying there on June 8, 1942. I shared a room with a brave and friendly officer, Colonel Francis Stevens. Early the next morning we flew to Port Moresby in New Guinea, and from there we took off in separate planes. Colonel Stevens never returned from that flight; his plane was shot down by a Japanese Zero.

11. A setting of calibrated instruments such as a firearm, corresponding to a zero value.
12. (finance) A security which has a zero coupon (paying no periodic interest).

    The takeovers were financed by issuing zeroes.

Determiner

zero

1. Synonym of no.

   She showed zero respect.

   • 2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport‎:

     You have to salute Gerrard's bravery in accepting the challenge of trying to turn Rangers around given that he has zero experience in senior management. Immortality beckons if he does it.

Adjective

zero (not comparable)

1. (meteorology) Of a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.
2. (meteorology) Of horizontal visibility, limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less.
3. (linguistics) Present at an abstract level, but not realized in the surface form.

   The stem of "kobieta" with the zero ending is "kobiet".

Verb

zero (third-person singular simple present zeroes or zeros, present participle zeroing, simple past and past participle zeroed)

1. (transitive) To set some amount to be zero.

   They tried to zero the budget by the end of the quarter.

   The bill was over $400, but the server zeroed it out as a gesture of gratitude.

   Results were inconsistent because an array wasn’t zeroed during initialization.

   Zero the fluorometer with the same solvent used in extraction.

   George parked in space 34, zeroed the trip meter, closed and locked his car, then went back to the guard shack.

2. To disappear or make something disappear.
   • 1997, Tom Clancy, Executive Orders, page 340:

     Traffic on the encrypted channels used by senior Iraqi generals had peaked and zeroed, then peaked again, and zeroed again.

   • 2001, Mark Pesce, “True Magic”, in James Frenkel, editor, True Names by Vernor Vinge and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier:

     They discovered the object code for the simulator that was DON, and zeroed it. DON — or his creator — was clever and had planted many copies,

   • 2004, Anna Maxted, Being Committed, page 358:

     If I zeroed Jack, I'd get by So I'd erased him, pretended the last few months had never happened.

3. To adjust until the variance is reduced to an acceptably low amount.

   The soldier took his gun to the shooting range to zero its aim.

Etymology

From Spanish cero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, ultimately from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “zero, nothing, empty, void”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾo
• Hyphenation: ze‧ro

Numeral

zero

1. zero

   Synonym: huts

Further reading

• “zero”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• “zero”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Etymology

From Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈzɛ.ɾu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈzɛ.ɾo]

• Audio:

  (file)

Numeral

zero m or f

1. (cardinal number) zero
2. (metrology) zero; origin point of a scale

Noun

zero m (plural zeros)

1. zero

Etymology

Borrowed from English zero, French zéro, Italian zero, Spanish cero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈze.ro/

Numeral

zero

1. (temperature) zero
2. (arithmetic) cipher, nought

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch zero, from French zéro, from Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “void, nothingness”). Doublet of Safar, sifar, and zero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ze.ro/
• Rhymes: -ro
• Hyphenation: ze‧ro

Numeral

zero

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

Noun

zero

1. zero
   1. the numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.
   2. the digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.
   3. nothing, or none.
   4. the value of a magnitude corresponding to the cardinal number zero.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “zero” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Numeral

zero

1. zero

Etymology

From New Latin zerum, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing”, “cipher”). Doublet of cifra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈd͡zɛ.ro/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛro
• Hyphenation: zè‧ro

Numeral

zero (invariable)

1. zero
   • 1587, “Cap. IIII: Del multiplicare [Chapter 4: About Multiplication]”, in Cosimo Bartoli, transl., Opere di Orontio Fineo Divise in Cinque Parti: Aritmetica, Geometria, Cosmografia & Oriuoli‎, Venice: Francesco Franceschi Senese, page 10:

     Fatta questa prima mu[l]tiplicatione, va all’altra figura che gl’è à canto del numero Multiplicante che segue, il quale essendo zero, cioè che non significa cosa alcuna, non ti darà ancora cosa alcuna dal suo multiplicarlo

     Having done this first multiplication, go to the figure next to the following multiplying number, which, being zero – that is, it doesn't mean anything – will not give anything when multiplied

Noun

zero m (plural zeri)

1. zero
   • 16^th c., Vincenzo Borghini, Della moneta fiorentina‎, Florence: Pietro Gaet. Viviani, published 1755, page 175, collected in Discorsi di monsignore D. Vincenzio Borghini - parte seconda:

     aggiugnendo a’ primi numeri un zero, o due, o tre, secondo che è il bisogno nostro, facciam crescere le centinaia in migliaia

     By adding a zero to the first numbers – or two, or three, according to our need – we increase the hundreds to thousands

2. nil (football)

Romanization

zero

1. Rōmaji transcription of ゼロ

Noun

zerō

1. dative/ablative singular of zerum

Etymology

zer +‎ -o

Noun

zero m

1. blond (male person)

See also

• zerê

Etymology

Borrowed from French zéro.^[1][2] First attested in 1781.^[3] Doublet of cyfra and szyfr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.rɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrɔ
• Syllabification: ze‧ro

Noun

zero n (related adjective zerowy)

1. zero (numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero)
2. zero (point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates)
3. zero (nothing, or none; lack of something)
4. (derogatory) zero (person of little or no importance)

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), zero is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 25 times in scientific texts, 43 times in news, 0 times in essays, 3 times in fiction, and 5 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 76 times, making it the 854th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.^[4]

References

Further reading

• zero in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• zero in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “zero”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1927), “zero”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 8, Warsaw, page 446
• zero in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛɾu
• Hyphenation: ze‧ro

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French zéro, from Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”). Doublet of cifra.

Etymology 2

Etymology

Borrowed from French zéro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈze.ro/
• Hyphenation: ze‧ro

• Audio:

  (file)

Numeral

zero

1. zero