Zero
/ˈzɪəroʊ/noun
The number 0; the absence of quantity or value.
Did you know?The word entered English through Italian and French from Arabic algebraic vocabulary, and its deeper ancestry traces back to Sanskrit terms for “empty” and “dot,” showing how mathematics and mysticism once shared the language of nothing.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient India
Skt
śūnya
“empty, void, zero”
Ancient India
Skt
sifṛa
“a blank, empty place; later used for zero-like notation”
Arabic Period
Ar
ṣifr
“empty, nothing; the numeral zero”
12th Century
It
zefiro / zero
“zero; the numeral nought”
14th Century
Fr
zéro
“zero, naught”
Modern English
Eng
zero
“the number 0”