zerohttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezero, n. & adj.
Revised 2018

zeronoun & adjective

  1. noun
      1. 1.a.
        1604–
        The symbol 0, used to denote the absence of quantity; = cipher n. 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.
        1. 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 Indies vi. ii. 435
        2. 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)
        3. 1799
          Every letter..marked with a figure followed by a zero.
          Tilloch's Philos. Magazine vol. 2 413
        4. 1854
          Sometimes the divisor ends with zeros or noughts.
          Orr's Circle of Sciences, Math. Science 16
        5. 1878
          If we have two zeros in the symbol of a plane the remaining number must always be unity.
          H. P. Gurney, Crystallography 15
        6. 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
        7. 1959
          The Indian system of numerals based on the symbol zero.
          A. Koestler, Sleepwalkers ii. iii. 105
        8. 2014
          He and his coworkers ludicrously write down ones and zeroes in pencil.
          Daily Telegraph (Nexis) 15 December (Features section) 25
      2. 1.b.
        1823–
        Gambling. The compartment numbered 0 on a roulette table.
        1. 1823
          The Roulette has hitherto baffled all calculation..there being 35 numbers and the Zeros in favour of the banker.
          Lit. Museum 11 October (Country edition) 646/1
        2. 1859
          I have been sketching out a little plan of a martingale for the roulette-table. There's only one zero at Homburg, and we can try it there as we go up.
          C. J. Lever, Davenport Dunn xlvi
        3. 1889
          If for 150 years Roulette has held its own against all comers, it is zero that has done it.
          J.-S. Bond, Roulette 29
        4. 1911
          The profits of the bank occur when the ball drops into the zero.
          H. Brolaski, Easy Money xxvii. 282
        5. 1957
          The man who predicts that at the tenth turn of the roulette wheel there will be a zero, wastes his breath.
          Mind vol. 66 16
        6. 2007
          Without the zero the punter and the casino would be on equal terms.
          M. M. Woolfson & M. S. Woolfson, Math. for Physics xii. 185
      3. 1.c.
        1989–
        In plural with the. The decade from 2000 to 2009. Cf. noughties n.
        1. 1989
          When the decade after the 1990's ends, where are we? In the zeroes? The aughts?
          W. Safire in New York Times Sunday Magazine 26 February 14/3
        2. 1999
          The dilemma of what the next decade will be called has been resolved by a poll which gives the nation's choice as ‘The Zeroes’.
          Daily Telegraph 14 July 5/2
        3. 2003
          She's celebrating joining U2 and Madonna as one of only three entertainers to have hits in the eighties, the nineties and the zeroes.
          P. Morley, Words & Music (2005) iii. 250
    1. 2.
      1650–
      A person of no importance or consequence; a worthless or insignificant person; a nobody, a nonentity. Cf. cipher n. 2a.
      Compare the later phrases to go from zero to hero at Phrases P.1 and to go from hero to zero at hero n. Phrases P.4; a similar rhyme is found in quot. a1715.
      1. 1650
        This makes the Magistrate but a cipher or zero in sacred things.
        L. Du Moulin, Power Christian Magistrate 116
      2. a1715
        Now tho' I count my self no Zero, I don't pretend to be an Hero.
        M. Monck, Marinda (1716) 124
      3. 1814
        The other gentlemen are zeroes.
        M. Edgeworth, Patronage vol. II. xxiv. 368
      4. 1861
        A man who will not work..is as complete a zero in the labour supply as if he were dead.
        Macmillan's Magazine vol. 3 322
      5. 1913
        The laborer today in our great industrial centers is not a unit, he is a zero.
        St. Andrew's Cross October 15/1
      6. 1967
        The old man was a big zero.
        W. Murray, Sweet Ride iv. 51
      7. 2014
        It does kind of reflect on what a complete zero I am that there's no jealousy.
        Toronto Star (Nexis) 28 December e2
    2. 3.
      Mathematics.
      1. 3.a.
        a1703–
        The absence of quantity considered as a number; nought (nought n. 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.
        1. a1703
          Number may be said to beigin [sic] from Nought Cifer or Zero.
          R. Hooke, Present State Natural Philosophy in Posthumous Works (1705) 66
        2. 1792
          The exponent is always a whole affirmative or negative number, or zero.
          M. Taylor, Tables Logarithms 3
        3. 1834
          Unless my Algebra deceive me, Unity itself divided by Zero will give Infinity.
          T. Carlyle, Sartor Resartus ii. ix. 69/1
        4. 1884
          By making the quantities..all equal to zero, we have a linear function.
          American Journal of Mathematics vol. 6 47
        5. 1930
          Angle BOP must always be of magnitude greater than zero.
          Math. News Letter November 16
        6. 1988
          Ordinary numbers do commute: a multiplied by b equals b multiplied by a; so ab minus ba equals zero.
          New Scientist 11 August 53/1
        7. 2009
          You cannot divide by zero.
          M. Gessen, Perfect Rigor viii. 143
      2. 3.b.
        1873–
        A value of a variable for which a function vanishes.
        1. 1873
          A certain singly periodic function of the second order has ½π for its period, 0 and ¼π for zeros, and ⅛π for a double infinite.
          Harvard University Catalogue 1872–3 272
        2. 1893
          The number of distinct zeros in the limited area is finite.
          A. R. Forsyth, Theory of Functions of Complex Variable 62
        3. 1902
          A polynomial of degree n has n zeros.
          E. T. Whittaker, Course of Modern Analysis 94
        4. 1955
          An elliptic function is determined..by the location and multiplicity of its zeros and poles.
          Transactions Amer. Math. Society vol. 78 65
        5. 2007
          The prime number theorem depended on the zeros of the zeta function.
          B. Fine & G. Rosenberger, Number Theory iv. 135
      1. 4.a.
        1761–
        A point or line represented by 0 on an instrument or device, used as the basis for taking measurements.
        1. 1761
          For 40 degrees below zero, in Fahrenheit's thermometer, is equal to 210 degrees of that of De Lisle.
          Philosophical Transactions 1760 (Royal Society) vol. 51 672
        2. 1795
          When the instrument is adjusted, and the index belonging to the micrometer-screw stands at the zero on its circle.
          Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society) vol. 85 446
        3. 1823
          Thermometers sunk down to..zero.
          Lord Byron, Don Juan: Canto X xxxiii. 69
        4. 1890
          These rollers are fixed in such a manner as to turn in a circumference concentric with the zero of the alidade.
          W. F. Stanley, Surveying Instruments 439
        5. 1917
          Last night was a blighter—the thermometer has touched zero once or twice lately and last night it went below.
          J. Martin, Diary 6 February in Sapper Martin (2010) 50
        6. 1921
          The owner of the establishment is provided with a key which can move the hand of the registering dial back to zero.
          Gas Manuf., Distribution & Use (British Commerc. Gas Association) ii. 92/1
        7. 1995
          I loved that little car, even with its temperamental windshield wiper, weather-worn canvas top, and speedometer pegged permanently at zero.
          Green Mountain Trading Post 20 September 4/1
      2. 4.b.
        1790–
        The lowest value in a scale, order, or ranking; a value from which a positive or negative quantity is reckoned.
        1. 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
        2. 1840
          The French adopt as their zero of longitude the meridian which passes through the Observatory at Paris.
          D. Lardner, Treatise on Geometry 208
        3. 1881
          Clouds will be recorded on a scale from zero to ten, zero being clear and ten cloudy.
          Annual Rep. Chief Signal Officer 745
        4. 1929
          They occupy a neutral position, or zero, on the scale running from +100 to -100.
          International Journal Ethics vol. 39 265
        5. 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
        6. 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
        7. 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
      3. 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.
        1. 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 Chemistry vol. I. 78
        2. 1860
          He..maintains..the opinion, that ice has always an inner temperature lower than zero.
          J. Tyndall, Glaciers of Alps ii. xiv. 302
        3. 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
        4. 1995
          Temperatures on the Pennines fell below zero last night, turning roads to ice.
          Independent (Nexis) 27 January 3
        5. 2009
          As they got closer to Canada, temperatures climbed toward zero, and they were slowed by melting ice.
          New Yorker 6 April 54/1
      4. 4.d.
        1821–
        figurative. The lowest point or degree; the nadir.
        1. 1821
          Sure my invention must be down at zero.
          Lord Byron, Don Juan: Canto III cx. 63
        2. 1867
          I got to coughing incessantly, and my voice fell below zero.
          ‘M. Twain’, Celebrated Jumping Frog 61
        3. 1894
          Man began the Ascent of Civilization at zero.
          H. Drummond, Lowell Lectures on Ascent of Man 176
        4. 1952
          Spirits at zero this morning, although I feel a great deal better.
          M. Kennedy, Troy Chimneys (1985) 16
        5. 2005
          At that point I was at zero. I felt terrible and tired and everything hurt.
          Express (Nexis) 6 September 56
      5. 4.e.
        1849–
        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 hour n. 1, ground zero n.
        1. 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
        2. 1866
          He..makes 1788 his zero of human history.
          J. Martineau, Essays Philosophical & Theological 1st Series 7
        3. 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
        4. 1916
          Zero, the time the gas and smoke was to start, was 5.50 a.m.
          King's Royal Rifle Corps Chron. 1915 104
        5. 1920
          The day and hour of zero: 20th August, 4.40 o'clock.
          Journal Royal United Service Inst. February 432
        6. 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
        7. 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
        8. 2005
          At zero minus five minutes a siren wailed across the desert and a green rocket flared up into the sky.
          Sunday Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 7 August 46
      1. 5.a.
        1823–
        Nil, no amount; none at all.
        1. 1823
          Though your years as man tend fast to zero.
          Lord Byron, Don Juan: Canto IX ii. 6
        2. 1872
          Dante's direct acquaintance with Plato may be reckoned at zero.
          J. R. Lowell, Dante in Prose Works (1890) vol. IV. 155
        3. 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
        4. 1979
          There can be no dose so low that the risk is zero.
          New Scientist 5 April 18/1
        5. 2001
          If any convict managed to get out.., his chances of escape would still be zero.
          Sun 27 January 18/3
      2. 5.b.
        1858–
        Nothing; the absence or lack of anything; esp. the absence of anything significant or important. Also: an instance of this. Cf. zilch n., zip n.2
        1. 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 Prussia vol. II. vi. ix. 126
        2. 1870
          He is not surrounded with a vast zero, an all-absorbing negation.
          H. Macmillan, True Vine (1872) iii. 82
        3. 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
        4. 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
        5. 2007
          Suddenly, money wasn't important. Fame and status meant zero to me.
          G. Foreman & K. Abraham, God in my Corner ix. 108
    3. 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 zero v. Phrasal verbs.
      1. 1869
        The rifles were shot at 12½ yards to get the zero on the tangent-scale.
        Philosophical Transactions 1868 (Royal Society) vol. 158 445
      2. 1913
        If a little team practice is possible, the lateral zeros of all rifles should be got into harmony.
        A. G. Fulton, Notes on Rifle Shooting 22
      3. 1955
        The zero is an individual matter between the shooter and his rifle.
        Rifle Marksmanship Instr. (U.S. Dept. Army Pamphlet 23-2) vii.
      4. 1988
        First we obtained a reasonable zero at 25 yards.
        Guns & Weapons Winter 75/2
      5. 2010
        The officers to whom the rifles are issued will still have to..check the zero for themselves.
        P. Sweeney, Gunsmithing: the AR-15 xviii. 235/1
    4. 7.
      1891–
      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.
      1. 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
      2. 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
      3. 1933
        In sheep : sheep the plural-suffix is replaced by zero.
        L. Bloomfield, Language xiii. 209
      4. 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
      5. 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’.
        J. Hope, Shakespeare's Grammar (2015) ii. 162
    5. 8.
      1982–
      Finance. Short for zero-coupon adj.
      1. 1982
        Zeros are also an attractive way to give financial gifts to minors.
        Changing Times July 8/1
      2. 2015
        In the initial instance investors focused on the possible tax benefits of zeros.
        C. O'Malley, Bonds without Borders iv. 77
  2. adjective
    1. 1.
      1836–
      Characterized by a temperature of zero degrees or below; freezing cold. Cf. sense A.4c, and subzero adj.
      1. 1836
        The congealings, watchings and exhaustions of a journey of four hundred miles, prosecuted night and day, in a zero atmosphere.
        T. D. Weld, Letter in Vermont Tel. 28 April 1/5
      2. 1854
        One is as sensible of the cold here, as in the zero atmosphere of America.
        N. Hawthorne, Journal 28 December in English Notebooks (1997) vol. I. ii. 148
      3. 1884
        I can keep my..hens warm even in zero weather.
        E. P. Roe in Harper's Magazine January 288/2
      4. 1911
        The air in the passing through the vent duct must overcome the gravity pressure of the zero air.
        Industrial Engin. September 190/1
      5. 1982
        Suddenly the child In all her innocence was underneath The ice in zero water.
        J. Parini, Anthracite Country 54
      6. 2011
        In zero weather, my brother saw her shivering in her thin cloth coat.
        Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) (Nexis) 8 November a6
    2. 2.
      In attributive use: no, not any.
      1. 2.a.
        1858–
        With plural count noun.
        1. 1858
          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
        2. 1941
          [Another pilot] swept over them ‘at zero feet’ and blew large holes in the wings and fuselage.
          Times 21 October 4/6
        3. 1966
          Ashbrook voted ‘right’ zero times and ‘wrong’ 19 times.
          Daily Jeffersonian (Cambridge, Ohio) 20 October 17/4
        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
        5. 2017
          He and his team still seem spooked by Ukip—a party now with zero MPs.
          Western Mail (Nexis) 27 March 7
      2. 2.b.
        1882–
        With mass noun.
        Sometimes, esp. in non-technical contexts, with stronger emphasis, meaning ‘absolutely no, no..whatsoever’.
        1. 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
        2. 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 Psychology vol. 61 110/1
        3. 1962
          Good design points include ‘zero torque’.
          Times 30 October 4/6
        4. 1981
          Jackie claims they now have ‘zero communication’.
          TV Picture Life March 39/3
        5. 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

  1. 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 hero n. Phrases P.4.
    A similar rhyme, with the same sense of zero, is found in quot. a1715 at sense A.2.
    1. 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
    2. 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)
    3. 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
    4. 2011
      He has gone from zero to hero in his party during the phone-hacking scandal.
      Times 23 July 30/2
  2. P.2.
    1. 1984–
      zero-to-hero adjective
      Relating to or involving a sudden increase in popularity or success. Cf. hero-to-zero at hero n. Phrases P.4.
      1. 1984
        It truly was a zero-to-hero night.
        Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts) 25 October 37/2
      2. 1996
        He had already gone for the Zero-to-Hero route.
        F. Popcorn & L. Marigold, Clicking iii. 431
      3. 2016
        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

zero, n. & adj. was revised in June 2018.

zero, n. & adj. was last modified in June 2025.