nil

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nil"

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Nila.

Symbol

nil

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Nila.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Nila terms

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nīl, a contraction of nihil, nihilum (“nothing”). See nihilism, nihility.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪl

Noun

nil (usually uncountable, plural nils)

1. Nothing; zero.
   • 1928 December 15, Frank J. Hirschboeck, “Treatment of Functional Heart Disease”, in The Journal of the American Medical Association‎^[1], volume 91, number 24, →DOI, page 1855:

     Sedatives, contrary to popular lay and medical opinion, are invaluable in those who are not aided by the simpler means. Bromides, barbital and its innumerable offspring may be used with success, their administration being supplemented with a word of warning as to the evasion of any advice from the community grandmothers contrary to its use. The danger of forming a habit is to my mind nil, except in the few instances in which patients have felt that if a little is good more is better. The necessity for not advising the patient of the nature of the remedy, except that it is not a “dope,” is obvious. An alternation of remedies is advisable in long standing cases, and its practice never reveals any tendency to habit formation.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19:

     As to Aristotle's influence on him, we are left free to conjecture whatever seems to us most plausible. For my part, I should suppose it nil.

2. (sports) A score of zero

   The football match ended in a nil-nil draw.

Derived terms

• nilable
• niladic
• nil by mouth
• nil disease
• nilium
• nillionaire
• nilmanifold
• nil per os
• nilpotent
• nilprogression
• nilradical
• nilsequence
• nilsoliton

Translations

nothing

• Bulgarian: нищо (bg) n (ništo), нула (bg) f (nula)
• Czech: nic (cs)
• Dutch: nul (nl)
• Esperanto: nenio (eo)
• Finnish: nolla (fi)
• Galician: nada (gl)
• Hebrew: כלום (he) (kloom)
• Hungarian: null (hu)
• Japanese: ニル (niru)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھیچ (hîç)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: null (no)

  Nynorsk: null

• Plautdietsch: nuscht
• Polish: zero (pl)
• Portuguese: nada (pt) m
• Russian: ничто́ (ru) n (ništó), ноль (ru) m (nolʹ) (zero)
• Scottish Gaelic: neoni m or f
• Spanish: nada (es), cero (es)
• Swedish: noll (sv)
• Ukrainian: нічого (ničoho)

zero (in sports)

• Czech: nula (cs)
• French: zéro (fr)
• Galician: cero (gl)
• German: null (de)
• Hungarian: null (hu)
• Spanish: cero (es)
• Ukrainian: нуль (uk) (nulʹ)
• Welsh: dim (cy)

Determiner

nil

1. No, not any.
   • 1982, Gavin Lyall, Conduct of Major Maxim, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd:

     But after two or three hours and nil results, you have to accept that the trail is cold and you can't justify that level of manpower.

Related terms

• nihilism

See also

• eau de nil
• null
• nil desperandum

Anagrams

• Lin, lin., Lin., -lin, lin, NLI

Golin

Alternative forms

• nl, nĺ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nɨ̆ĺ], [nĺ], [˩˧nɨ̆l]

Noun

nil

1. liquid; water

   Na nil ne dugudige. ― I swallowed water.

Derived terms

• Kulupe nil
• nil benke
• nil benke binan
• nil guli
• nil kabe
• nil kupa si
• nil pai
• Nilmanil
• nilwa

References

• Gordon Bunn, Golin Grammar (1974)

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nil/

Pronoun

nil (indefinite)

1. nothing

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈniːɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈnil]

Pronoun

nīl (indeclinable)

1. syncopic form of nihil (“nothing”)

   ‘Bene scripsisti de me, Thoma. Quam ergo mercedem accipies?’ ‘Nil nisi te, Domine.’

   ‘You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you like?’ ‘Nothing but you, Lord.’

Declension

Indeclinable pronoun (used only in the nominative and accusative), singular only.

	singular
	neuter
nominative	nīl
genitive	—
dative	—
accusative	nīl
ablative	—
vocative	—

References

• “nil”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nil”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Hungarian nyíl.

Noun

nil n (uncountable)

1. (regional) sling

   Synonym: praștie

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	nil	nilul
genitive-dative	nil	nilului
vocative	nilule

References

• nil in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English needle.

Noun

nil

1. needle
2. thorn
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:18:

     Ol rop i gat nil na ol gras nogut bai i kamap na karamapim gaden bilong yu.

     →New International Version translation