Nada
/ˈnɑːdə/noun
Nothing; not anything.
Did you know?Spanish speakers originally used nada in the phrase cosa nada, “no thing born,” before the expression was reinterpreted as simply “nothing.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“To beget, give birth, or produce”
Classical Latin
Latin
nātus
“Born; having been brought into existence”
Late Latin
Latin
res nāta
“A thing born or a thing that has come into existence”
Medieval Spanish
Old Spanish
nada
“A thing born; later, no thing”
13th Century
Spanish
nada
“Nothing, through reanalysis of phrases such as cosa nada”
Modern English
English
nada
“Nothing; zero, borrowed from Spanish”