zero
nounEtymology 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.
12 senses
- 1The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.
- 2The digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base…
- 3Nothing, or none.
- 4The value of a magnitude corresponding to the cardinal…
- 5The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement…
- 6A value of the independent variables of a function, for…
- 7The additive identity element of a monoid or greater…
- 8A person dismissed as unimportant.
- 9A difference that is present at an abstract level, but…
- 10A casual misspelling of Zero ("a fighter aircraft…
- 11A setting of calibrated instruments such as a firearm…
- 12A security which has a zero coupon (paying no periodic interest).
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.
1 more example
- The zero sign in American Sign Language is considered rude in some cultures.
The digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.
- One million has six zeroes.
- His idea is to stand billions of ultrafine wire loops around the edge of a silicon chip — hence the name racetrack — and use electric current to slide infinitesimally small magnets up and down along each of the wires to be read and written as digital ones and zeros.2007 September 11, John Markoff, “Redefining the Architecture of Memory”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2020:
2 more examples
- Here is the formal definition: an autobiographical number is a number N such that the first digit of N counts how many zeroes are in N, the second digit counts how many ones are in N and so on. In our example, 1210 has 1 zero, 2 ones, 1 two and 0 threes.2008 March 2, Tanya Khovanova, “Autobiographical Numbers”, in arXiv, page 1:
- 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.2024 January 4, Matthew Sparkes, “First working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers”, in New Scientist, retrieved 18 Jan 2024:
Informal Nothing, or none.
- The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.
- He knows zero about humour.
2 more examples
- zero-defect
- In the end, all of our hard work amounted to zero.
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.
- 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.2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2019, page 68:
The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.
- The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.
Mathematics, Sciences 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.
2 more examples
- The nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function may all lie on the critical line.
- As the next example shows, the set of zeros may well have a limit point not belonging to the domain.2006, Ivan Francis Wilde, Lecture Notes on Complex Analysis, Imperial College Press, page 153:
Algebra, Mathematics, Sciences 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.
1 more example
- The quotient ring over a maximal ideal is a field with a single zero element.
Slang A person dismissed as unimportant.
- They rudely treated him like a zero.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences 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.
Government, Military, Politics, War Historical, Informal 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.
- The takeovers were financed by issuing zeroes.
- Synonyms
- cipher, slashed zero, origin, zero point, nadir, naught, nil, nothing, nought, nowt, null, bugger all, fuck all, nada, sod all, sweet FA, sweet Fanny Adams, zilch, zip, value of a function’s variables at zero, additive identity
- Antonyms
- pole
- Derived terms
34 terms
aleph-zero, decimal without a zero, go from zero to hero, net-zero, net zero, non-zero, sub-zero, zero air, zero-based budget, zero coupon bond, zero crossing, zero-day, zero deflection, zero-dimensional, zero-emission vehicle, zero-grade, zero gravity, zero hour, zero hundred, zero ideal, zeroize, zeroise, zero-knowledge, zero-knowledge proof, zero-length launching, zero locus, zero method, zero one infinity rule, zero-pass, zero-point energy, zero-rated, zero-sum, zero-sum game, zero vector- Hyponyms
- absolute zero, ground zero, negative zero, positive zero, size zero
- Holonyms
- kernel