# zero

Pronunciation: say "ZEER-oh" US /ˈzɪɹoʊ/, UK /ˈzɪəɹəʊ/, AUS /ˈzɪə.ɹəʉ/

## Numeral

1. The cardinal number that comes before one and stands for no quantity at all, written as 0.
   - Simple: The number that means none at all, written as 0, just before one.
   - _She scored zero on the quiz, answering nothing correctly._
   - _Adding zero to any number leaves that number unchanged._

## Determiner

2. Not any; used in place of 'no' before a noun to show complete absence.
   - Simple: Not any at all, the same as saying 'no' before a noun.
   - _The new policy shows zero tolerance for cheating._
   - _They had zero chance of winning after the injury._

## Noun

3. Nothing at all; no amount, or the value of a quantity that stands for none.
   - Simple: Nothing, no amount at all, as in 'her savings fell to zero'.
   - _Her bank balance fell to zero by the end of the month._
   - _The tank's pressure dropped to zero once the valve opened._
4. The point on a scale where numbering or measurement begins.
   - Simple: The starting point on a scale, where measuring 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._
5. The numeric symbol that stands for the cardinal number zero, written as 0.
   - Simple: The written sign 0, which stands for the number zero, meaning none.
   - _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._
8. A person regarded as having little or no importance. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who is seen as having no importance or value at all.
   - _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._
7. The 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.
   - Simple: The setting of a gun's sights that makes shots hit where you aim at a chosen distance, or a similar instrument setting.
   - _She confirmed the rifle's zero at one hundred yards._
   - _A hard knock to the scope can make a rifle lose its zero._
12. A value of a function's input variable for which the function evaluates to zero.
   - Simple: A value you put into a function that makes the function come out equal 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._

## Verb

6. To 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.
   - Simple: To set an amount, meter or reading to zero, or to adjust a gun's sight so it aims true.
   - _Drivers zero the trip meter each time they fill the tank._
   - _Reset the software to zero the running total each night._
10. To disappear, or to cause something to disappear.
   - Simple: To vanish, or to make something go away completely.

## Adjective

9. Used in the names of foods and drinks, especially beverages, to mark a version that has no calories.
   - Simple: Used in food and drink names to show it 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._
11. Of visibility or a cloud ceiling: so poor or so low that almost nothing can be seen, as in dense fog or a whiteout.
   - Simple: Of weather: so foggy or cloudy that you can see almost nothing.
   - _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._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A Mitsubishi A6M fighter aircraft flown by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945.
- (noun) The additive identity of an algebraic structure such as a group or ring: the element that leaves any element unchanged when added to it.
- (noun) A security that carries a zero coupon, paying no periodic interest and returning its full value only at maturity.
- (adjective) Present at an abstract grammatical level but not realized by any overt element in the surface form.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/zero (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).