zero

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See also zéro, and zéró

Contents

[edit] English

WOTD - 27 December 2006    
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Wikipedia

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

[edit] Etymology

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

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Cardinal number

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.

[edit] Usage notes

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

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

cardinal number before 1, denoting nothing

[edit] See also

[edit] Noun

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.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Antonyms

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

[edit] Holonyms

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

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

numeric symbol of zero
digit zero
irrelevant amount
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

[edit] Adjective

zero (not comparable)

  1. (informal, used with noun) Virtually 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".

[edit] Synonyms

  • (informal: virtually none): no

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

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

[edit] Verb

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.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

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

[edit] Catalan

[edit] Etymology

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

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Cardinal number

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

zero m. and f. adj. and m. sg. noun (masculine plural noun zeros)

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

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Usage notes

Catalan cardinal numbers may be used as masculine or feminine adjectives. When used as a noun, Catalan cardinal numbers are treated as masculine singular nouns in most contexts. An exception occurs in certain expressions involving time such as la una i trenta (1:30) or les dues (two o'clock) where the feminine noun hora (pl. hores) has been elided.

[edit] Interlingua

[edit] Cardinal number

zero

  1. zero

[edit] Italian

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

[edit] Pronunciation

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

[edit] Adjective

zero m. and f. inv.

  1. zero

[edit] Noun

zero m. (plural zeri)

  1. zero
  2. nil (football)

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] See also

[edit] Japanese

[edit] Noun

zero (katakana ゼロ)

  1. ゼロ: zero, naught, nothing

[edit] Kurdish

[edit] Etymology

Compounded from zer + -ê.

[edit] Noun

zero m.

  1. blond (male person)

[edit] See also

[edit] Latin

[edit] Noun

zerō

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

[edit] Polish

[edit] Etymology

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

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Number

zero n.

  1. zero

[edit] Declension

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

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Portuguese

Portuguese cardinal numbers
  0 1   > 
    Cardinal : zero

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Cardinal number

zero m. and f.

  1. (cardinal) zero

[edit] Noun

zero m.

  1. zero

[edit] Romanian

[edit] Etymology

French zéro

[edit] Cardinal number

zero

  1. (cardinal) zero
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