Link Centre Dictionary

zero

UK/ˈzɪəɹəʊ/ US/ˈzɪɹəʊ/ common informal slang
noun (3) adjective (4) verb (2)

noun

1.

a quantity of no importance

  • “it looked like nothing I had ever seen before”
  • “reduced to nil all the work we had done”
  • “we racked up a pathetic goose egg”
  • “it was all for naught”
  • “I didn”
Synonyms
2.

a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number

Synonyms
3.

the quantity that registers a reading of zero on a scale

Synonyms

adjective

1.

indicating the absence of any or all units under consideration

  • “a zero score”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

indicating an initial point or origin

Similar
3.

of or relating to the null set (a set with no members)

4.

having no measurable or otherwise determinable value

  • “the goal is zero population growth”
Similar

verb

1.
2.

adjust (as by firing under test conditions) the zero of (a gun)

  • “He zeroed in his rifle at 200 yards”
Synonyms

Origin

Collectively borrowed from Early Modern Spanish zero, Middle French zero, and (their etymon) Old Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zēphirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing; cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnyá, “void; nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre. Cognate with Spanish cero and French zéro.

Phrases

  • decimal without a zero
  • go from zero to hero
  • net zero
  • zero air
  • zero coupon bond
  • zero crossing
  • zero deflection
  • zero growth
  • zero in
  • zero in on
  • zero out
  • zero tolerance

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.