zero
- 1The cardinal number that comes before one and stands for no quantity at all, written as 0.
She scored zero on the quiz, answering nothing correctly.
Adding zero to any number leaves that number unchanged.
UsageTakes a plural noun, as in zero degrees and zero points; in ranges, from zero to 100.
- 2Not any; used in place of 'no' before a noun to show complete absence.
The new policy shows zero tolerance for cheating.
They had zero chance of winning after the injury.
UsageBefore a noun, for emphasis: zero chance, zero tolerance. More emphatic than no.
Similarno
Note
The determiner that does the work of no, with more weight: zero respect, zero experience.
- 3
- 4The point on a scale where numbering or measurement begins.
Before you weigh the flour, check that the needle on the kitchen scale rests exactly at zero.
On the Celsius scale, zero marks the freezing point of water.
UsageOften above or below zero, with no article: ten degrees below zero.
Note
On many scales zero is a reference mark rather than a floor, so readings can fall below it: ten degrees below zero counts downward from that mark. On the Kelvin scale, zero marks absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Zero can be a reference level rather than a minimum, allowing negative readings. weather.gov
- Ten degrees below zero represents counting downward from zero to −10 degrees. learn1.open.ac.uk
- Zero on the Kelvin scale is absolute zero. nist.gov
- Absolute zero is the coldest possible temperature. nist.gov
- 5The numeric symbol that stands for the cardinal number zero, written as 0.
She wrote a neat zero at the top of the page.
The fax was smudged, so the zero was easy to mistake for a letter.
UsagePlural zeros or zeroes. In phone numbers, people often say oh for 0.
Similarnought
- 6To set an amount, instrument or reading to zero, or to adjust a gun sight so that shots land where it aims at a set distance.
Drivers zero the trip meter each time they fill the tank.
Reset the software to zero the running total each night.
UsageOften zero something out: zero out the total. Forms: zeroes or zeros, zeroed, zeroing.
Note
The everyday verb of resetting. Programmers zero an array during initialization, and lab workers zero a fluorometer before using it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Programmers initialize arrays with zero values. numpy.org
- Fluorometers are zeroed before sample measurements. promega.com
- 7The reference setting of a calibrated instrument, especially the sight setting of a firearm at which shots strike the point of aim at a chosen distance.
She confirmed the rifle's zero at one hundred yards.
A hard knock to the scope can make a rifle lose its zero.
UsageA rifle's zero is set at a distance: zero at one hundred yards. You check or confirm it.
Less common meanings
- 8A person regarded as having little or no importance.
After the scandal, the once-powerful executive became a zero in the eyes of his peers.
She refused to let her coworkers treat her like a zero.
UsageOpenly contemptuous; often treat someone like a zero.
Similarnobody, nonentity, cipher, loser
Oppositesomebody
Note
Slang that turns the number into a verdict on a person: to call someone a zero is to rate them at nothing.
- 9Used in the names of foods and drinks, especially beverages, to mark a version that has no calories.
Many shoppers now pick Coke Zero instead of the regular version to cut calories.
The café stocks Sprite Zero alongside the usual sugary drinks.
Similardiet
Note
Its home is packaging and menus, where it marks the calorie-free version of a drink or food.
- 10To disappear, or to cause something to disappear.
If I zeroed Jack, I'd get by So I'd erased him, pretended the last few months had never happened.
2004, Anna Maxted, Being CommittedTraffic on the encrypted channels used by senior Iraqi generals had peaked and zeroed, then peaked again, and zeroed again.
1997, Tom Clancy, Executive OrdersSimilarerase, delete, wipe, vanish, disappear
Note
This is the vanishing verb, and it works both with and without an object. In Tom Clancy's Executive Orders (1996), traffic on encrypted channels peaked and zeroed, disappearing by itself. In Anna Maxted's novel Being Committed, a narrator zeroes Jack, erasing him as if the last few months had never happened.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Tom Clancy wrote Executive Orders, first published in 1996. en.wikipedia.org
- Executive Orders describes encrypted-channel traffic peaking and then zeroing, with zero used intransitively. en.wiktionary.org
- Anna Maxted's Being Committed contains a narrator's account of zeroing Jack by mentally erasing him and the preceding months. en.wiktionary.org
- 11Of visibility or a cloud ceiling: so poor or so low that almost nothing can be seen, as in dense fog or a whiteout.
The blizzard produced zero visibility across the highway for most of the afternoon.
Sailors reported zero visibility as the fog bank rolled over the harbor.
UsageMostly in zero visibility and zero ceiling.
Note
Pilots and forecasters use it for two measurements, one along the ground and one up to the cloud base. Zero visibility is the standard pairing, meaning almost nothing can be seen, though the exact cutoff for reporting it varies. A zero ceiling means cloud or fog sits almost on the ground.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Visibility measures horizontal seeing distance. faa.gov
- Cloud height is measured vertically above the aerodrome. docs.mavis.metoffice.gov.uk
- Reported zero visibility can represent a very short, nonzero seeing distance. docs.mavis.metoffice.gov.uk
- Visibility reporting conventions differ between systems. weather.gov
- A reported zero cloud height represents cloud at or very near ground level. faa.gov
- 12A value of a function's input variable for which the function evaluates to zero.
Solving the polynomial gave three real zeros.
Every zero of the function corresponds to a point where its graph meets the x-axis.
UsageUsually the zeros of a function.
Similarroot
Note
In analysis a zero belongs to a function rather than to the number line. It is an input, and a function can have many. A polynomial's zeros are its roots, and the nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function may all lie on the critical line.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- A zero is defined relative to a function and is an input producing zero as output. xronos.clas.ufl.edu
- A function can have multiple zeros. ms.uky.edu
- A polynomial's zeros are its roots. ximera.osu.edu
- All nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are conjectured to lie on the critical line. dlmf.nist.gov
- 13A Mitsubishi A6M fighter aircraft flown by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945.
- 14The additive identity of an algebraic structure such as a group or ring: the element that leaves any element unchanged when added to it.
- 15A security that carries a zero coupon, paying no periodic interest and returning its full value only at maturity.
- 16Present at an abstract grammatical level but not realized by any overt element in the surface form.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
English borrowed "zero" from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and their source Old Italian zero, which came from Medieval Latin zēphirum. That in turn came from Arabic ṣifr ("nothing; cipher"), itself a calque of Sanskrit śūnyá ("void; nothingness"). It is a doublet of cipher and chiffre.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English borrowed zero from Early Modern Spanish, Middle French, and their source Old Italian; the Italian word derives from Medieval Latin zēphirum. en.wiktionary.org
- Medieval Latin zēphirum derives from Arabic ṣifr, meaning nothing or cipher. en.wiktionary.org
- The numerical meaning of Arabic ṣifr is a calque of Sanskrit śūnyá. en.wikipedia.org
- Sanskrit śūnyá means void or nothingness. en.wiktionary.org
- Zero, cipher, and chiffre are etymological doublets. en.wiktionary.org