Gadit

zero

Definitions (4)
1numeralthe number 0; none at all
The answer was zero.
We had zero problems on the trip.
His score stayed at zero until the last round.
2nounthe point on a scale where nothing is measured, such as no heat, no charge, or no height above a set base point
The needle moved back to zero.
Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.
The machine should be reset to zero first.
3nouna person or thing seen as having no importance or value
After the scandal, he felt like a zero.
The movie makes its hero seem like a zero at first.
No child should be made to feel like a zero.
4verbto adjust a device so it starts measuring from nothing
Please zero the scale before weighing the package.
The engineer zeroed the instrument before the test.
You need to zero the sensor again.
Idioms & expressions
from zero, from the very beginning, with nothing already prepared or achieved
zero in on, to direct full attention very accurately toward one thing
from zero to hero, from having no success or status to becoming very successful or admired
Word Origin
Language
Italian, from Arabic
Original word
zero / ṣifr
Originally meant
empty, nothing
Background
English borrowed it through Italian zero, which came from Arabic ṣifr, a word used for an empty place in writing numbers. The same Arabic source also gave English cipher. The spread of this word followed the spread of the Hindu-Arabic number system into Europe.
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