Nought
/nɔːt/noun
Nothing; zero; not any amount or number.
Did you know?Nought comes from the same ancient root as *night*, sharing a deep Indo-European link to darkness and the absence of light—so English literally tied “nothing” to the realm of night.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*nókʷts
“night”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*nahts
“night”
Old English
OE
nāwiht / nōht
“nothing, not a thing”
Middle English
ME
nought
“nothing; zero; not anything”
Modern English
English
nought
“nothing; zero”