zilch

WOTD – 31 July 2009

English

Etymology

Related to creative origin of Mr. Zilch in Ballyhoo, 1930s humor magazine.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /zɪltʃ/

Noun

zilch (uncountable)

1. (informal) nothing.
   • 1991, Judith Arnold, One Good Turn‎, page 104

     "If the homeless wind up with zilch," James retorted, veiling his indignation behind a malevolent smile, "it's because they deserve zilch."

Synonyms

• zero (standard), zip (informal), nada (informal)

Translations

(informal) nothing

• French: que dalle (fr), que pouic (fr)
• German: nix (de)
• Japanese: 何も (nani mo)

• Russian: ничего́ (ru) (ničevó), (slang) ни черта́ (ni čertá), ни фига́ (ru) (ni figá), ни шиша́ (ni šišá), ни хрена́ (ru) (ni xrená), (vulgar) ни хуя́ (ru) (ni xujá), ни хера́ (ru) (ni xerá)
• Swedish: noll (sv), nolla (sv) c, ingenting (sv)
• Turkish: hiç (tr), değersiz (tr)

Adjective

zilch (not comparable)

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Nothing; zero.