zero

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   indicating the absence of any or all units under consideration

   a zero score

2. 2
   verb

   adjust, as by firing under test conditions, the zero of a gun

   I zeroed in my rifle at 200 yards.

3. 3
   num

   The cardinal number occurring before one and that denotes no quantity or amount at all, represented in Arabic numerals as 0.

   The conductor waited until the passenger count was zero.

4. 4
   noun

   The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.

   In unary and k-adic notation in general, zero is the empty string.

5. 5
   noun

   The digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.

   One million has six zeroes.

6. 6
   noun

   Nothing, or none.

   The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.

7. 7
   noun

   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.

8. 8
   noun

   The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.

   The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.

Etymology

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.