zilch

See also: Zilch

English

WOTD – 31 July 2009

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested as Zilch, a placeholder surname (compare John Doe) in the American humor magazine Ballyhoo in 1931. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: zĭlch, IPA^(key): /zɪltʃ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪltʃ

Noun

zilch (countable and uncountable, plural zilches)

1. (countable, informal, archaic) A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonentity

   • 1931 July, Ballyhoo, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 1:

     President Henry P. Zilch. Chairman of the Board Charles D. Zilch. Treasurer Otto Zilch.

   • 1932 February, Ballyhoo, Vol. II, No. 1:

     Bernarr MacZilch [for Bernarr Macfadden] and His Dynamic-Hooey System... The WEAKLING Who Became 'The World's Most Perfect Ass!'

   • 1940, Lester V. Berrey & al., The American Thesaurus of Slang, §184:

     Dinglegoofer, Mr. Zilch, indefinite nicknames.

2. (uncountable, informal) Nothing, zero.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nothing

   Her search for decent home-made winter clothes came up with zilch, so she had to get imported stuff.

   • 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."

Translations

(informal) nothing

• Esperanto: nenio (eo)
• Finnish: ei-kukaan
• French: que dalle (fr), que pouic (fr)
• German: nix (de)
• Japanese: 何も (nani mo)

• Romanian: canci (ro), ioc (ro), boacă (ro) f
• 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. (informal, chiefly US) No, zero, non-existent.
   • 1966, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

     Zilch, adj. Nothing, zero...

   • 1977 February 3, The Telegraph, p. 14:

     ...gorgeous faces but zilch talent...

Verb

zilch (third-person singular simple present zilches, present participle zilching, simple past and past participle zilched)

1. (informal, US sports) To cause to score nothing, to thoroughly defeat.
   • 1969, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

     We zilched them on that rubber.

   • 1990 April 2, USA Today, p. 20:

     My favorite film of 1989 got zilched... That would be Field of Dreams.

Synonyms

• shutout

References

• Douglas Harper, “zilch”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2021.
• “zilch, n. (and adj.).”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1986.
• “zilch, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1993.