Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Spanish. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Italian.
Etymons:Italianzero; Spanishzero; Frenchzéro.
Partly (i) <Spanish †zero (1512; now cero),partly (ii) <Frenchzéro (1485 in Middle French; 1690 as adjective),and partly (iii) < their etymon Italianzero (late 14th cent.),all in sense ‘number 0’ <…
Partly (i) <Spanish †zero (1512; now cero),partly (ii) <Frenchzéro (1485 in Middle French; 1690 as adjective),and partly (iii) < their etymon Italianzero (late 14th cent.),all in sense ‘number 0’ <post-classical Latincifra, cifre, cyfre (early 12th cent.), zephirum (1202 in Leonardo da Pisa) <Arabicṣifrciphern.Compare nullon. and earlier ciphern., niln.1
Notes
Specific senses
In sense A.1b after Frenchzéro (1810 or earlier in this sense).
With the extended uses in sense A.2 and as adjective compare Italianzero nothing (a1484), Frenchzéro worthless or insignificant person or thing (1512 in Middle French).
Meaning & use
noun
1.a.
1604–
The symbol 0, used to denote the absence of quantity; = ciphern. 1.
The use of a symbol to denote the absence of quantity occurs in several early positional number systems, each having its own symbol (the Maya civilization, for instance, used a glyph of a shell). Such symbols were originally used simply to distinguish between numbers such as 101 and 11, and were at first not considered as representing a number in its own right.
Now widespread, the symbol ‘0’ originated in what is now India (one of the earliest examples occurring in an inscription dating back to 876 AD) and developed from an earlier symbol, consisting of a large dot, which had previously been used for the same purpose.
1604
They accompted their weekes by thirteene dayes, marking the dayes with a Zero [Spanish zero] or cipher.
E. Grimeston, translation of J. de Acosta, Naturall & Morall Historie Indiesvi. ii. 435
1706
Zero, a Word sometimes us'd especially among the French, for a Cipher or Nought (0).
Phillips's New World of Words (new edition)
1799
Every letter..marked with a figure followed by a zero.
Tilloch's Philos. Magazinevol. 2 413
1854
Sometimes the divisor ends with zeros or noughts.
Orr's Circle of Sciences, Math. Science 16
1878
If we have two zeros in the symbol of a plane the remaining number must always be unity.
H. P. Gurney, Crystallography 15
1940
The introduction of zero as a symbol denoting the absence of units or of certain powers of ten..has been rated as one of the greatest practical inventions of all time.
E. T. Bell, Development of Mathematics iii. 48
1959
The Indian system of numerals based on the symbol zero.
A. Koestler, Sleepwalkersii. iii. 105
2014
He and his coworkers ludicrously write down ones and zeroes in pencil.
Daily Telegraph (Nexis) 15 December (Features section) 25
colloquial and often derogatory (originally and chiefly U.S.). A person or thing of no importance, value, or substance. Now esp.: something which, contrary to expectations, turns out to be insignificant or…
The absence of quantity considered as a number; nought (noughtn. B.1c).
The earliest example of zero considered as a number in its own right occurs in a manuscript by Indian mathematician Brahmagupta (598–668) dated to the 7th cent. See the note at sense A.1a for a discussion of the earlier role of zero in positional number systems.
a1703
Number may be said to beigin [sic] from Nought Cifer or Zero.
R. Hooke, Present State Natural Philosophy in Posthumous Works (1705) 66
1792
The exponent is always a whole affirmative or negative number, or zero.
M. Taylor, Tables Logarithms 3
1834
Unless my Algebra deceive me, Unity itself divided by Zero will give Infinity.
T. Carlyle, Sartor Resartusii. ix. 69/1
1884
By making the quantities..all equal to zero, we have a linear function.
American Journal of Mathematicsvol. 6 47
1930
Angle BOP must always be of magnitude greater than zero.
Math. News Letter November 16
1988
Ordinary numbers do commute: a multiplied by b equals b multiplied by a; so ab minus ba equals zero.
The lowest value in a scale, order, or ranking; a value from which a positive or negative quantity is reckoned.
1790
It has been usual to fix on the point, at which the areometer properly ballanced, sinks in pure distilled water, as the zero of the scale.
Critical Review November 554
1840
The French adopt as their zero of longitude the meridian which passes through the Observatory at Paris.
D. Lardner, Treatise on Geometry 208
1881
Clouds will be recorded on a scale from zero to ten, zero being clear and ten cloudy.
Annual Rep. Chief Signal Officer 745
1929
They occupy a neutral position, or zero, on the scale running from +100 to -100.
International Journal Ethicsvol. 39 265
1969
Zero on the Beaufort scale is a calm with winds of less than one mile per hour.
Gastonia (North Carolina) Gazette 30 September 5b/3
1987
The beaches at Melenara on Grand Canary Island and the Ereaga beach near Bilbao are among the filthiest and most insanitary in Spain... All three scored zero on a rating system of 1 to 5.
Times (Nexis) 26 June
2006
The Apgar score..allowed nurses to rate the condition of babies at birth on a scale from zero to ten. An infant got two points if it was pink all over.
New Yorker 9 October 64/1
4.c.
1800–
The temperature corresponding to 0° on the Celsius scale (32° Fahrenheit), marking the freezing point of water.
absolute zero: see the first element.
1800
That the melting of ice produces cold, is proved by the custom which confectioners have of melting certain salts with ice to produce a cold below zero.
translation of E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange, Manual of Course of Chemistryvol. I. 78
1860
He..maintains..the opinion, that ice has always an inner temperature lower than zero.
J. Tyndall, Glaciers of Alpsii. xiv. 302
1958
In the Antarctic..the crunch of snow under a boot can be heard for a mile. The sensation is eerie. This happens only when the temperature is far below zero.
A. Marshack, World in Space iv. 71
1995
Temperatures on the Pennines fell below zero last night, turning roads to ice.
Independent (Nexis) 27 January 3
2009
As they got closer to Canada, temperatures climbed toward zero, and they were slowed by melting ice.
The character or quality of being the worst; the worst condition possible or imaginable; the state of greatest deterioration. Contrasted with optimism…
The initial point of a process or sequence of events; the starting point, the absolute beginning; (Military) the time or day when an attack or operation is due to begin. Formerly also in †hour of zero. Cf. zero hourn. 1, ground zeron.
1849
The vegetation of the Silurian system, from its upper beds down till where we reach the zero of life.
H. Miller, Foot-prints of Creator 193
1866
He..makes 1788 his zero of human history.
J. Martineau, Essays Philosophical & Theological 1st Series 7
1915
Message says: ‘Operation order 110 holds good. The hour of zero for tomorrow will be communicated later.’
G. J. Matkin, Diary 24 September in M. Brown, Imperial War Mus. Book of Western Front (1993) ii. vi. 78
1916
Zero, the time the gas and smoke was to start, was 5.50 a.m.
King's Royal Rifle Corps Chron. 1915 104
1920
The day and hour of zero: 20th August, 4.40 o'clock.
Journal Royal United Service Inst. February 432
1942
It should be assumed..that zero [for an attack on Madagascar] should be about April 30.
W. S. Churchill in Second World War (1950) vol. IV.i. xiii. 225
1983
The main body was ordered to Thiepval..timing their arrival for Zero plus two hours..to stride on to consolidate the third objective.
L. MacDonald, Somme v. 41
2005
At zero minus five minutes a siren wailed across the desert and a green rocket flared up into the sky.
a. An act or the action of starting off (to start off at start, v. phrasal verbs PV.1); b. a point of starting off; a starting point; also attributive…
Dante's direct acquaintance with Plato may be reckoned at zero.
J. R. Lowell, Dante in Prose Works (1890) vol. IV. 155
1936
The position of equilibrium, under conditions of laissez-faire, will be one in which employment is low enough and the standard of life sufficiently miserable to bring savings to zero.
J. M. Keynes, General Theory of Employment xvi. 218
1979
There can be no dose so low that the risk is zero.
New Scientist 5 April 18/1
2001
If any convict managed to get out.., his chances of escape would still be zero.
Nothing; the absence or lack of anything; esp. the absence of anything significant or important. Also: an instance of this. Cf. zilchn., zipn.2
1858
Whatever the answer now be from England, I will have nothing to do with it..to me it shall be zero.
T. Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussiavol. II.vi. ix. 126
1870
He is not surrounded with a vast zero, an all-absorbing negation.
H. Macmillan, True Vine (1872) iii. 82
1967
True, there is a certain amount of ‘freedom’ in their use but the wearing of them adds up to absolutely zero!
Boston Globe 21 May (Confidential Chat) 8/3
1977
‘What about the airlines, the hotel, car rentals.’ ‘Zero, I'd have used phony paper, wouldn't you?’
C. McCarry, Secret Lovers xii. 159
2007
Suddenly, money wasn't important. Fame and status meant zero to me.
G. Foreman & K. Abraham, God in my Corner ix. 108
6.
1869–
Firearms. A position of a gunsight, typically found by trial shooting, which over a certain distance makes allowance for elevation, wind deflection, and the bullet's trajectory. Cf. to zero in 1 at zerov. Phrasal verbs.
1869
The rifles were shot at 12½ yards to get the zero on the tangent-scale.
Linguistics. The absence of a linguistic feature (such as an inflection, or a phonetic or syntactic element) in a position in which one previously existed, or where one is present in corresponding positions elsewhere.
Conventionally represented in linguistic analysis by the symbol Ø.
1891
In Sanskrit Grammar, this ‘lopa’ is considered as a substitute or âdes̱a, and as such this grammatical zero has all the rights and liabilities of the thing it replaces.
S. C. Vasu, Ashṭádhyáyí of Pánini 56
1914
If..we take into view..amo ‘I love’, amāvit ‘he loved’, amētur ‘he may be loved’, it is possible to call them all related by affixation, the kernel being am-... In this instance the group does not contain a word that equals the kernel, or, as we might say, has ‘affix zero’.
L. Bloomfield, Introduction to Study of Language v. 154
1933
In sheep : sheep the plural-suffix is replaced by zero.
L. Bloomfield, Language xiii. 209
1972
With time adjuncts, omission of the preposition is usual whether the pronoun is that or zero..: That is the time (that) he arrives (at).
R. Quirk et al., Grammar of Contemporary English xiii. 866
2003
The first instance of ‘speake’ takes zero, since its subject is the pronoun ‘they’, while the second takes -s, since its subject is the relative pronoun ‘that’.
Her paddles rotate about 27 feet per second, leaving a retrograde slip..at 14 feet below the center of her shaft of zero feet per second.
Hunt's Merchant's Magazine September 277
1941
[Another pilot] swept over them ‘at zero feet’ and blew large holes in the wings and fuselage.
Times 21 October 4/6
1966
Ashbrook voted ‘right’ zero times and ‘wrong’ 19 times.
Daily Jeffersonian (Cambridge, Ohio) 20 October 17/4
1976
Because he had zero toads, Howard had to content himself with the tub of thin green gruel.
New Yorker 24 May 28/1
2017
He and his team still seem spooked by Ukip—a party now with zero MPs.
Western Mail (Nexis) 27 March 7
2.b.
1882–
With mass noun.
Sometimes, esp. in non-technical contexts, with stronger emphasis, meaning ‘absolutely no, no..whatsoever’.
1882
The surface of still water is agitated by wave disturbances proceeding from three fixed points..: find the points of zero disturbance.
G. M. Minchin, Uniplanar Kinematics 25
1960
A subject indicated zero social distance by stating that he was willing to marry a member of a particular ethnic group.
Journal Abnormal & Social Psychologyvol. 61 110/1
1962
Good design points include ‘zero torque’.
Times 30 October 4/6
1981
Jackie claims they now have ‘zero communication’.
TV Picture Life March 39/3
2015
The Yankees had zero hope for either this year, and each player performed like an all-star.
New York Magazine 21 September 20/1
Phrases
P.1.
1893–
Originally U.S.to go from zero to hero and variants: to experience a sudden increase in popularity or success, esp. having previously been in a position of low achievement or esteem. Cf. to go from hero to zero at heron. Phrases P.4.
A similar rhyme, with the same sense of zero, is found in quot. a1715 at sense A.2.
1893
The graduations are as clearly marked by which he ascends from zero to hero, as the lines of latitude from the North Pole to the Equator.
F. E. Willard, Address 2nd Biennial Convent. World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union 5
1938
Leave it up to this up-and-at-'em Yankee to triumph over trouble..rise from zero to hero..and win a lovely lady's heart!
Dunkirk (New York) Evening Observer 26 February 18/5 (advertisement)
1985
Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith portray two youths who go from zeroes to heroes in a single weekend—thanks to some help from the supernatural.
Syracuse (New York) Herald-Amer. 28 July (Stars Magazine) 3/2
2011
He has gone from zero to hero in his party during the phone-hacking scandal.
They [sc.the Rams] were the talk of the NFL, with Warner providing one of the all-time great zero-to-hero stories in sports.
Buffalo (New York) News (Nexis) 17 January b17
Pronunciation
British English
/ˈzɪərəʊ/
ZEER-oh
U.S. English
/ˈzɪroʊ/
ZEER-oh
/ˈziroʊ/
ZEER-oh
Plural: zeroes
British English
/ˈzɪərəʊz/
ZEER-ohz
U.S. English
/ˈzɪroʊz/
ZEER-ohz
/ˈziroʊz/
ZEER-ohz
Consonants
ppea
ttea
kkey
bbuy
ddye
ɡguy
tʃchore
dʒjay
ffore
θthaw
ssore
ʃshore
vvee
ðthee
zzee
ʒbeige
xloch
hhay
llay
ɬrhingyll
rray
wway
jyore
mmay
nnay
ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
iːfleece
ihappy
ɪkit
ɛdress
atrap, bath
ɑːstart, palm, bath
ɒlot
ɔːthought, force
ʌstrut
ʊfoot
uːgoose
əletter
əːnurse
ɪənear
ɛːsquare
ʊəcure
eɪface
ʌɪpride
aʊmouth
əʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ãgratin
ɒ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
ifleece, happy
ɪkit
ɛdress
ætrap, bath
ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
ɑrstart
ɔcloth, thought
ɔrnorth, force
ʊfoot
ugoose
əstrut, comma
ərnurse, letter
ɪ(ə)rnear
ɛ(ə)rsquare
ʊ(ə)rcure
eɪface
aɪpride
aʊmouth
oʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ɑ̃gratin
æ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
gguy
jjay
yyore
chchore
khloch
shshore
ththaw
dhthee
zhbeige
Vowels
atrap
ahpalm
airsquare
arstart
arrcarry (British only)
awthought
ayface
a(ng)gratin
edress
eefleece
eerdeer
errmerry
ikit
ighpride
irrmirror
olot (British only)
ohgoat
oogoose
oorcure
orforce
orrsorry (British only)
owmouth
oyvoice
o(ng)salon
ustrut
uhletter
urnurse
urrhurry
uufoot
Forms
Inflections
Plural: zeroes ( British English /ˈzɪərəʊz/ (ZEER-ohz) , U.S. English /ˈzɪroʊz/ (ZEER-ohz) , /ˈziroʊz/ (ZEER-ohz) )
Frequency
zero is one of the 5,000 most common words in modern written English. It is similar in frequency to words like concrete, conference, evident, impression, and matrix.
It typically occurs about 40 times per million words in modern written English.
zero is in frequency band 6, which contains words occurring between 10 and 100 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.
Frequency of zero, n. & adj., 1750–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Decade
Frequency per million words
1750
0.0056
1760
0.32
1770
0.42
1780
0.14
1790
0.19
1800
0.94
1810
0.78
1820
1.2
1830
2.1
1840
2.2
1850
3.1
1860
3.7
1870
6.1
1880
8.2
1890
10
1900
12
1910
16
1920
18
1930
25
1940
36
1950
44
1960
49
1970
44
1980
46
1990
42
2000
37
2010
37
Frequency of zero, n. & adj., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.
Then calling V the quantity of heat necessary to form this quantity of vapour, the water being first at zero temperature, V will be the product of this number.
Philosophical Magazinevol. 62 335
1845
Zero values of the unknown quantities being supposed to be excluded.
T. Lund, Wood's Elements Algebra (ed. 12) 216
1889
I shall insert a tabular view of the successive values of the viscosity of the gases at zero degrees centigrade.
C. Barus, On Thermo-Electr. Measurem. High Temperatures (Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 54) 270
1903
The inert gases, the elements of zero valency, appear at the nodes of a vibrating curve.
Science 23 October 522/2
1938
If each such contact [sc. a mild electric shock received by rats] had been counted as an error, the number of cases of zero-error would have been considerably reduced.
British Journal of Psychologyvol. 28 329
2018
The power switch is turned on at zero voltage (of course, turnoff also occurs at zero voltage).
Linguistics. Designating a linguistic element, such as an inflection, which is not represented by a spoken or written marker, in a position in which such a marker previously existed, or where one is present in corresponding positions elsewhere. Cf. sense A.7.
1926
Alternation... Absence of sound may be a phonetic or formal alternant... Such an alternant is a zero element. The postulation of zero elements is necessary for Sanskrit..for Primitive Indo-European..and probably economical for English (singular book with affix zero, as opposed to book-s, cf f-oo-t; f-ee-t).
L. Bloomfield in Languagevol. 2 160
1942
In He cut it there is a zero morpheme meaning ‘past time’ after cut.
Languagevol. 18 170
1963
The Authorized Version of the Bible clearly fights shy of it: in those places where the Hebrew has a zero-clause, it uses a relative pronoun printed in italics (e.g. Ps. 7, 5, ‘he is fallen into the ditch which he made’).
F. T. Visser, Historical Syntax of English Languagevol. I. iv. 538
1972
The zero auxiliary was demonstrated by Martin Luther King, Jr. gone for Martin Luther King, Jr. has gone.