Word: zero Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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. Pronunciation: /ˈzɪəɹəʊ/, /ˈzɪɹəʊ/, /ˈzɪːɹəw/, /ˈzɪɹoʊ/, /ˈziɹoʊ/ 1. The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: In unary and k-adic notation in general, zero is the empty string. Example: Write 0.0 to indicate a floating point number rather than the integer zero. 2. The digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: One million has six zeroes. Example: His idea is to stand billions of ultrafine wire loops around the edge of a silicon chip — hence the name racetrack — and use electric current to slide infinitesimally small magnets up and down along each of the wires to be read and written as digital ones and zeros. 3. Nothing, or none. Labels: informal, uncountable Example: The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock. Example: He knows zero about humour. 4. The value of a magnitude corresponding to the cardinal number zero. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The electromagnetic field does not drop all of the way to zero before a reversal. Example: Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return. 5. The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero. 6. A value of the independent variables of a function, for which the function is equal to zero. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The zeroes of a polynomial are its roots by the fundamental theorem of algebra. Example: The derivative of a continuous, differentiable function that twice crosses the axis must have a zero. 7. The additive identity element of a monoid or greater algebraic structure, particularly a group or ring. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Since a commutative zero is the inverse of any additive identity, it must be unique when it exists. Example: The zero (of a ring or field) has the property that the product of the zero with any element yields the zero. 8. A person dismissed as unimportant. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: They rudely treated him like a zero. 9. A difference that is present at an abstract level, but not realized in the form, that is, superficially (on the surface). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Sometimes a difference in intended meaning has only a zero to mark it, in which case the utterance may be ambiguous when context alone does not fully clarify it. 10. A casual misspelling of Zero ("a fighter aircraft operated by Imperial Japan during World War II"). Labels: countable, historical, informal, uncountable 11. A setting of calibrated instruments such as a firearm, corresponding to a zero value. Labels: countable, uncountable 12. A security which has a zero coupon (paying no periodic interest). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The takeovers were financed by issuing zeroes.