null
adjEtymology Borrowed from Middle French nul, from Latin nūllus.
7 senses
1
Having no validity; "null and void".
- And however Firmilian and S. Cyprian might be deceived in the thinking hereticks quite loſt their orders ; yet in this they were untouched, that although their ſuppoſition was queſtionable, yet their ſuperſtructure was not meddled with, viz. That if they had been Lay-perſons, their Baptizations were null and invalid.a. 1667, Rev. Jeremy Taylor, “Clerus Domini: or, A Discourse of the Divine Institution, Necessity, Sacredness, and Separation of the Office Ministerial”, in Ενιαυτος: A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays Of the year, 3rd edition, London: E. Tyler, page 19:
2
Insignificant.
- In proportion as we descend the social scale our snobbishness fastens on to mere nothings which are perhaps no more null than the distinctions observed by the aristocracy, but, being more obscure, more peculiar to the individual, take us more by surprise.1924, Marcel Proust, Within a Budding Grove:
3
Absent or non-existent.
- The most recent attempt to contact Pioneer 10 was on 6-7 February 2003. But in this case, the Madrid station got conclusively null results after an assiduous search.2003 February 20, James A. Van Allen, “Termination of Pioneer 10's Mission”, in Pioneer 10 & 11 GTT Charged Particles, The University of Iowa:
4
Mathematics, Sciences Of the null set.
5
Mathematics, Sciences Of or comprising a value of precisely zero.
7
Engineering, Mechanical, Mechanical engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Of a position or setting Neutral.
- In normal operation, the input cranks to both the MPCU and standby rudder actuator will rotate to provide the servo valve command to the units, and the rudder will be hydraulically moved by the MPCU. The rudder movement is in turn fed back mechanically to both the MPCU and standby actuator systems so that when the rudder surface deflects to the position commanded by the pilot, the input cranks on both of the units will be returned to their null positions. Thus, there is a geometric relationship between the rudder position, the input crank of the MPCU, the torque tube, and the input crank of the standby rudder actuator that is retained during normal operation.2001 March 27, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.16.3 Detail Examination and Tests of Standby Rudder Actuator Input Shaft and Bearing”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Uncontrolled Descent and Collision With Terrain, United Airlines Flight 585, Boeing 737-200, N999UA, 4 Miles South of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 3, 1991, archived from the original on 08 May 2022, pages 62–63:
- Antonyms
- antinull, non-null
- Derived terms
53 terms
/dev/null, alef null, aleph-null, conull, dev null, nonnull, non-null persistent, nullability, nullable, null anaphora, null and void, nullary, null byte injection, null character, nullcline, null determiner, null device, nullectomy, nullform, nullge, null-grav, null-homotopic, null hypothesis, nullification, null infinity, nulliparous, nullish, Null Island, nullity, nulliverse, null matrix, null modem, null morpheme, nullness, null node, nullo, null object, null path length, null persistent, null pointer, null prefix, null recurrence, null recurrent, null result, null set, null sign, nullspace, null-subject language, null suffix, null-terminated, phosphonull, pseudonull, Rh-null