zero.
The cardinal number occurring before one and that denotes no quantity or amount at all, represented in Arabic numerals as 0.
Meaning & usage
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.
Where this word comes from
Collectively borrowed from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and (their etymon) Old Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zēphirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnyá, “void; nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre. Cognate with Spanish cero and French zéro.
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 digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.
One million has six zeroes.
Nothing, or none.
zero-defect
The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.
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.
The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.
The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.
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 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.
A person dismissed as unimportant.
They rudely treated him like a zero.
A difference that is present at an abstract level, but not realized in the form, that is, superficially (on the surface).
Sometimes a difference in intended meaning has only a zero to mark it, in which case the utterance may be ambiguous when context alone does not fully clarify it.
A casual misspelling of Zero ("a fighter aircraft operated by Imperial Japan during World War II").
A setting of calibrated instruments such as a firearm, corresponding to a zero value.
A security which has a zero coupon (paying no periodic interest).
The takeovers were financed by issuing zeroes.
Where this word comes from
Collectively borrowed from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and (their etymon) Old Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zēphirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnyá, “void; nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre. Cognate with Spanish cero and French zéro.
Synonym of no.
She showed zero respect.
Where this word comes from
Collectively borrowed from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and (their etymon) Old Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zēphirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnyá, “void; nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre. Cognate with Spanish cero and French zéro.
Of a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.
Of horizontal visibility, limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less.
Present at an abstract level, but not realized in the surface form.
The stem of "kobieta" with the zero ending is "kobiet".
Used in the names of foodstuffs, especially beverages, to indicate a version with no calories
Where this word comes from
Collectively borrowed from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and (their etymon) Old Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zēphirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnyá, “void; nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre. Cognate with Spanish cero and French zéro.
To set some amount to be zero.
They tried to zero the budget by the end of the quarter.
Results were inconsistent because an array wasn’t zeroed during initialization.
To disappear or make something disappear.
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.
Where this word comes from
Collectively borrowed from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and (their etymon) Old Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zēphirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnyá, “void; nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre. Cognate with Spanish cero and French zéro.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.