nothing meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

nothing

pron

US, UK /ˈnʌθɪŋ/ · UK /ˈnɔθɪŋ/

Etymology From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

1

Indefinite, Pronoun Not any thing; no thing.

Don't just say nothing. Tell me what's going on.
Nothing bad will happen, will it?

4 more examples

There remains nothing more to be done.
See? there’s nothing!
Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all! Nothing at all! Nothing at all!
Wage earners that resemble nothing so much as former southern slaves.

2

Indefinite, Pronoun An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.

Synonyms: 56 terms
not a thing, naught, jack, nada, zip, zippo, zilch, squat, nix, bugger all, jack shit, sod all, fuck all, dick, nowt, nothing of any consequence, nothing consequential, nothing important, nothing significant, something inconsequential, something insignificant, something of no consequence, something trifling, something unimportant, aught, blank, bupkis, cipher, dick all, diddly, diddly squat, diddly-squat, doodley-squat, doodly-squat, Fanny Adams, fig, FA, jack all, jackshit, jack squat, nil, nish, nitsky, nothing, nought, null, nuttin', shit, squadoosh, sweet bugger all, sweet FA, sweet Fanny Adams, sweet fuck all, zero, zerosville, zipola
Antonyms: anything, everything, something
Related terms: absent, empty, gone, hill of beans, row of pins, nonentity, nonexistent, vacant, vacuum, void, quantifier

nothing

noun

Etymology From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

1

Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.

- What happened to your face? - It's nothing.
Sermons are not like curious inquiries after new nothings, but pursuances of old truths.1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC:

1 more example

Knuckles: The Egg Carrier is nothing compared to this!2003, Sonic Team USA, Sonic Heroes, Sega, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, level/area: Final Fortress:

2

A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.

3

A nobody (insignificant person).

nothing

adv

Etymology From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

1

Archaic Not at all; in no way.

Nothing too much out of the ordinary.
Nothing dismayed, I repeated my query.

2 more examples

The answer was an impatient one—but, nothing daunted, he continued.1855, The Ladies' Repository, volume 15, page 544:
The Motion from London to Syria is as much as nothing; and nothing altereth the relation which is between them.1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems:

nothing

adj

Etymology From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

1

Completely unimportant.

Dallas scored on what had seemed until then like a nothing play.

2

Lacking effort or commitment.

The cricketer played a nothing shot.

nothing

intj

Etymology From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

1

Never mind; it's not important; forget what I said.

Derived terms: 104 terms
age ain't nothing but a number, ain't nothing but a thang, all-or-nothing, and nothing of value was lost, apropos of nothing, as if nothing had happened, benothing, be onto nothing, better than nothing, come to nothing, dance on nothing, dance upon nothing, do-nothing, do nothing, double or nothing, emphasize everything and nothing is emphasized, to emphasize everything is to emphasize nothing, for nothing, get-nothing, go for nothing, good for nothing, good-for-nothing, have nothing on, have nothing on someone, have nothing to lose, here goes nothing, hiding to nothing, if nothing else, in nothing flat, it's nothing, know-nothing, leave nothing in the tank, leave nothing to the imagination, less than nothing, make nothing of, much ado about nothing, neck or nothing, next to nothing, no nothing, not for nothing, nothing about us without us, nothingarian, nothing at all, nothing ball, nothingburger, nothing-burger, nothing burger, nothing but, nothing but net, nothing-buttery, nothing doing, nothing else for it, nothing for it, nothing gold can stay, nothing if not, nothing is certain but death and taxes, nothingish, nothingism, nothing is said that has not been said before, nothingist, nothingize, nothing less than, nothing like, nothingly, nothing more than, nothingness, nothing new under the sun, nothingology, nothing personal, nothing sandwich, nothing short of, nothing special, nothing succeeds like success, nothingth, nothing to choose between, nothing to it, nothing to see, nothing to see here, nothing to sneeze at, nothing to sniff at, nothing to write home about, nothing-up-my-sleeve number, nothingy, say nothing, shared-nothing, shot to nothing, something and nothing, something is better than nothing, stick at nothing, stop at nothing, sweet nothing, thanks for nothing, there is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution, there is nothing new under the sun, there's nothing to it, thing of nothing, think nothing of, think nothing of it, to say nothing of, want for nothing, you ain't seen nothing yet, you can't get something for nothing, you don't get something for nothing, you will own nothing and be happy
Related terms: anything, everything, something, thing
Coordinate terms: nobody, no one, nowhere