zero

pronunciation

How to pronounce zero in British English: UK [ˈzɪərəʊ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce zero in American English: US [ˈzɪroʊ] word us audio image

Noun:

a quantity of no importance
a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number
the quantity that registers a reading of zero on a scale
Verb:

adjust (an instrument or device) to zero value
adjust (as by firing under test conditions) the zero of (a gun)
Adjective:

indicating the absence of any or all units under consideration
indicating an initial point or origin
of or relating to the null set (a set with no members)
having no measurable or otherwise determinable value

Word Origin

zero: zero: [17] In common with many other English mathematical terms, zero comes ultimately from Arabic. Its distant ancestor is Arabic sifr, a noun use of an adjective meaning ‘empty’, which also produced English cipher. It passed into English via Old Spanish zero and French zéro.=> cipher

zero (n.): "figure which stands for naught in the Arabic notation," also "the absence of all quantity considered as quantity," c. 1600, from French zéro or directly from Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic sifr "cipher," translation of Sanskrit sunya-m "empty place, desert, naught" (see cipher (n.)). A brief history of the invention of "zero" can be found here. Meaning "worthless person" is recorded from 1813. As an adjective from 1810. Zero tolerance first recorded 1972, originally U.S. political language. Zero-sum in game theory is from 1944 (von Neumann), indicating that if one player wins X amount the other or others must lose X amount.

zero (v.): in zero in, 1944, from zero (n.); the image is from instrument adjustment to a setting of "zero" (1909 in this sense, originally in rifle-shooting). Related: Zeroed; zeroing.