nothing

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled nothink, noth’n, nuffn, nuthin, and nuttin

US /ˈnʌθɪŋ/ UK /ˈnʌθ.ɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Freq #140

Meanings

1

pron
Not anything; no thing.

Don't just say nothing. Tell me what's going on.
2

noun
Something of no importance.

What happened to your face? It's nothing.
3

adv
Not at all; in no way.

The new house is nothing like the old one.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 pron · not anything; no thing. not a thingnaught

More aught blankbupkiscipherdiddlydiddly-squatdoodley-squatdoodly-squatfafigjackshitnil

Opposites

anything everything something

Word family

Forms nothinnothingnessnothings

Related forms absent empty gone nonentity nonexistent quantifier vacant vacuum void

Appears in

Idioms (4)

See all

Proverbs (42)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

nothyng Middle English nāþing Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# nothing

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** pron, noun, adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈnʌθɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈnʌθ.ɪŋ/
**Frequency rank:** 140

## Meanings
1. Not anything; no thing.
2. Something of no importance.
3. Not at all; in no way.

## Examples
- Don't just say nothing. Tell me what's going on.
- What happened to your face? It's nothing.
- The new house is nothing like the old one.

## Synonyms
- aught
- blank
- bupkis
- cipher
- diddly
- diddly-squat
- doodley-squat
- doodly-squat
- fa
- fig
- jackshit
- nil

## Antonyms
- anything
- everything
- something

## Related Forms
- absent
- empty
- gone
- nonentity
- nonexistent
- quantifier
- vacant
- vacuum
- void

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: nothyng
- Root: nāþing

## Etymology
From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

## AI Etymology
Nothing comes from Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”). The historical chain includes Middle English nothyng and Old English nāþing. Modern senses include not anything; no thing and something of no importance. The wider word family includes related forms such as absent, empty, gone, and nonentity.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

markdown