zero

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See also zéro, and zéró

Contents

English [edit]

WOTD – 27 December 2006    
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Wikipedia

English cardinal numbers
  0 1  > 
    Cardinal : zero
    Ordinal : zeroth

Etymology [edit]

From French zéro, from Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صفر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Numeral [edit]

zero

  1. (cardinal) 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.
    A cheque for zero dollars and zero cents crashed the computers on division by zero.

Usage notes [edit]

  • In an adjectival sense, used with the plural of a countable noun:
    I have zero dollars and zero food.

Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

cardinal number before 1, denoting nothing

See also [edit]

Noun [edit]

zero (countable and uncountable; plural zeroes or zeros)

  1. The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.
    In unary and k-adic notation in general, zero is the empty string.
    Write 0.0 to indicate a floating point rather than the integer zero.
    The zero sign in American Sign Language is considered rude in some cultures.
  2. The digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.
    One million has six zeroes.
  3. (informal, uncountable) Nothing, or none.
    The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.
    He knows zero about humor.
    In the end, all of our hard work amounted to zero.
  4. 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.
  5. The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.
    The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.
  6. (mathematics) A value of the independent variables of a function, for which the function is equal to zero.
    The zeros of a polynomial are its roots by the fundamental theorem of algebra.
    The derivative of a continuous, differentiable function that twice crosses the axis must have a zero.
    The nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function may all lie on the critical line.
  7. (mathematics, algebra) The additive identity element of a monoid or greater algebraic structure, particularly a group or ring.
    Since a commutative zero is the inverse of any additive identity, it must be unique when it exists.
    The zero (of a ring or field) has the property that the product of the zero with any element yields the zero.
    The quotient ring over a maximal ideal is a field with a single zero element.
  8. (slang) A person of little or no importance.
    They rudely treated him like a zero.
  9. (military) A Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a long range fighter aircraft operated by the Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945.
  10. A setting of calibrated instruments such as a firearm.
  11. (finance) A security which has a zero coupon (paying no periodic interest).
    The takeovers were financed by issuing zeroes.

Synonyms [edit]

Antonyms [edit]

  • (value of a function's variables at zero): pole

Holonyms [edit]

  • (value of a function's variables at zero): kernel

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

numeric symbol of zero
digit zero
nothing, or none
zero value of a magnitude
point of origin on a scale
value of a function’s independent variables when the value of the function is zero
identity element of a monoid
person of little importance
setting of a firearm

Adjective [edit]

zero (not comparable)

  1. (informal, used with noun) none
    She showed zero respect.
  2. (meteorology) Of a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.
  3. (meteorology) Of horizontal visibility, limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less.
  4. (linguistics) Present at an abstract level, but not realized in the data.
    The stem of "kobieta" with the zero ending is "kobiet".

Synonyms [edit]

  • (informal: virtually none): no

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

informal: virtually none
meteorology: of a cloud ceiling: limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less
meteorology: of horizontal visibility: limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less
linguistics: present at an abstract level but not realized in the data

Verb [edit]

zero (third-person singular simple present zeroes, present participle zeroing, simple past and past participle zeroed)

  1. (transitive) To set a measuring instrument to zero; to calibrate instrument scale to valid zero.
    Zero the fluorometer with the same solvent used in extraction.
  2. (transitive, computing) To change a memory location or range to values of zero; to set a variable in a computer program to zero.
    Results were inconsistent because an array wasn’t zeroed during initialization.
  3. (transitive) To cause or set some value or amount to be zero.
    They tried to zero the budget by the end of the quarter.
  4. (transitive) To eliminate; to delete; to overwrite with zeros.
    • 2001, Mark Pesce, "True Magic", in True Names by Vernor Vinge and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier, James Frenkel (editor)
      They discovered the object code for the simulator that was DON, and zeroed it. DON — or his creator — was clever and had planted many copies,
    • 2004, Anna Maxted, Being Committed, page 358
      If I zeroed Jack, I'd get by So I'd erased him, pretended the last few months had never happened.
  5. (intransitive) To disappear
    • 1997, Tom Clancy, Executive Orders, page 340
      Traffic on the encrypted channels used by senior Iraqi generals had peaked and zeroed, then peaked again, and zeroed again.

Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

to set to zero
to cause or set some value or amount to be zero

Catalan [edit]

Catalan cardinal numbers
  0 1  > 
    Cardinal : zero
Catalan Wikipedia article on zero

Etymology [edit]

From Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صفر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Numeral [edit]

zero m, f

  1. (cardinal) zero
  2. (metrology) zero; origin point of a scale

Derived terms [edit]

Noun [edit]

zero m (plural zeros)

  1. zero

Interlingua [edit]

Numeral [edit]

zero

  1. zero

Italian [edit]

Italian cardinal numbers
  0 1  > 
    Cardinal : zero
    Ordinal : zeresimo

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /ˈdzɛro/, [ˈd̪͡z̪ɛː.ro], X-SAMPA: /"dzEro/
  • Hyphenation: zè‧ro

Adjective [edit]

zero m and f (invariable)

  1. zero

Noun [edit]

zero m (plural zeri)

  1. zero
  2. nil (football)

Derived terms [edit]

See also [edit]

Japanese [edit]

Romanization [edit]

zero

  1. See ゼロ

Kurdish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Compounded from zer + -ê.

Noun [edit]

zero m

  1. blond (male person)

See also [edit]

Latin [edit]

Noun [edit]

zerō

  1. dative singular of zerum
  2. ablative singular of zerum

Polish [edit]

Polish cardinal numbers
  0 1  > 
    Cardinal : zero
    Ordinal : zerowy
    Collective : zero

Etymology [edit]

From Italian zero, from Italian zefiro, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صفر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”)

Pronunciation [edit]

Numeral [edit]

zero n

  1. zero

Declension [edit]

    declension of zero
singular plural
nominative zero zera
genitive zera zer
dative zeru zerom
accusative zero zera
instrumental zerem zerami
locative zerze zerach
vocative zero zera

Derived terms [edit]

Portuguese [edit]

Portuguese cardinal numbers
  0 1  > 
    Cardinal : zero

Pronunciation [edit]

Numeral [edit]

zero m and f

  1. (cardinal) zero

Noun [edit]

zero m

  1. zero

Romanian [edit]

Etymology [edit]

French zéro

Cardinal numeral [edit]

zero

  1. (cardinal) zero
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