Vocabulary     

What does NOTHING mean?

Definitions for NOTHING
ˈnʌθ ɪŋnoth·ing

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word NOTHING.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. nothing, nil, nix, nada, null, aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg, naught, zero, zilch, zip, zippoadverb

    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't hear zilch about it"

  2. nothingadverb

    in no respect; to no degree

    "he looks nothing like his father"

Wiktionary

  1. nothingnoun

    Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance

    What happened to your face? uE00098519uE001 It's nothing.

  2. nothingnoun

    A trivial remark (especially in the term sweet nothings)

  3. nothingnoun

    A nobody (insignificant person)

    You're nothing to me now!

  4. nothingadverb

    Not at all; in no way.

  5. nothingpronoun

    Not any thing; no thing.

  6. nothingpronoun

    An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.

  7. nothingpronoun

    Anything

    I didn't see nothing. [= I didn't see anything].

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Nothingnoun

    Etymology: no and thing; nothing, Scottish.

    It is most certain, that there never could be nothing. For, if there could have been an instant, wherein there was nothing, then either nothing made something, or something made itself; and so was, and acted, before it was. But if there never could be nothing; then there is, and was, a being of necessity, without any beginning. Nehemiah Grew, Cos.

    We do not create the world from nothing and by nothing; we assert an eternal God to have been the efficient cause of it. Richard Bentley, Serm.

    This nothing is taken either in a vulgar or philosophical sense; so we say there is nothing in the cup in a vulgar sense, when we mean there is no liquor in it; but we cannot say there is nothing in the cup, in a strict philosophical sense, while there is air in it. Isaac Watts, Logick.

    Mighty states characterless are grated
    To dusty nothing. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida.

    There shall nothing die. Ex. ix. 4.

    Yet had his aspect nothing of severe,
    But such a face as promis’d him sincere. Dryden.

    Philosophy wholly speculative, is barren and produces nothing but vain ideas. John Dryden, Don Sebastian.

    Nothing at all was done, while any thing remained undone. Joseph Addison, on the War.

    Nothing but a steady resolution brought to practice; God’s grace used, his commandments obeyed, and his pardon begged; nothing but this will intitle you to God’s acceptance. William Wake, Prep. for Death.

    Words are made to declare something; where they are, by those who pretend to instruct, otherwise used, they conceal indeed something; but that which they conceal, is nothing but the ignorance, error, or sophistry of the talker, for there is, in truth, nothing else under them. John Locke.

    The report which the troops of horse make, would add nothing of courage to their fellows. Edward Hyde.

    The outward shew of churches, draws the rude people to the reverencing and frequenting thereof, whatever some of our late too nice fools say, there is nothing in the seemly form of the church. Edmund Spenser, Ireland.

    Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of naught. Isaiah xli. 24.

    A most homely shepherd; a man that from very nothing is grown into an unspeakable estate. William Shakespeare, W. Tale.

    We are industrious to preserve our bodies from slavery, but we make nothing of suffering our souls to be slaves to our lusts. John Ray, on the Creation.

    The charge of making the ground, and otherwise is great, but nothing to the profit. Francis Bacon, Nat. Hist.

    I had rather have one scratch my head i’ th’ sun,
    When the alarum were struck, than idly sit
    To hear my nothings monster’d. William Shakespeare, Cor.

    My dear nothings, take your leave,
    No longer must you me deceive,
    ’Tis nothing, says the fool; but says the friend,
    This nothing, Sir, will bring you to your end.
    Do I not see your dropsy-belly swell? Dryden.

    That period includes more than a hundred sentences that might be writ to express multiplication of nothings, and all the fatiguing perpetual business of having no business to do. Alexander Pope, Letters.

    Who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth? Job xxiv. 25.

    Auria nothing dismayed with the greatness of the Turks’ fleet, still kept on his course. Richard Knolles, Hist. of the Turks.

    But Adam with such counsel nothing sway’d. John Milton.

Wikipedia

  1. Nothing

    Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for nothing to exist. The atomists allowed nothing but only in the spaces between the invisibly small atoms. For them, all space was filled with atoms. Aristotle took the view that there exists matter and there exists space, a receptacle into which matter objects can be placed. This became the paradigm for classical scientists of the modern age like Newton. Nevertheless, some philosophers, like Descartes, continued to argue against the existence of empty space until the scientific discovery of a physical vacuum. Existentialists like Sartre and Heidegger (as interpreted by Sartre) have associated nothing with consciousness. Some writers have made connections between Heidegger's concept of nothing and the nirvana of Eastern religions. Modern science does not equate vacuum with nothing. Indeed, the vacuum in quantum field theory is filled with virtual particles. The quantum vacuum is often viewed as a modern version of an aether theory.

ChatGPT

  1. nothing

    Nothing is a term used to refer to the absence or lack of anything, substance, existence, or activity. It denotes the state or condition of there being absolutely nothing present or occurring. It represents the complete emptiness or void wherein no thing or concept exists.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Nothingnoun

    not anything; no thing (in the widest sense of the word thing); -- opposed to anything and something

  2. Nothingnoun

    nonexistence; nonentity; absence of being; nihility; nothingness

  3. Nothingnoun

    a thing of no account, value, or note; something irrelevant and impertinent; something of comparative unimportance; utter insignificance; a trifle

  4. Nothingnoun

    a cipher; naught

  5. Nothingadverb

    in no degree; not at all; in no wise

  6. Etymology: [From no, a. + thing.]

Wikidata

  1. Nothing

    Nothing is no thing, denoting the absence of something. Nothing is a pronoun associated with nothingness. In nontechnical uses, nothing denotes things lacking importance, interest, value, relevance, or significance. Nothingness is the state of being nothing, the state of nonexistence of anything, or the property of having nothing.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Nothing

    nuth′ing, n. no thing: non-existence: absence of being: a low condition: no value or use: not anything of importance, a trifle: utter insignificance, no difficulty or trouble: no magnitude: a cipher.—adv. in no degree: not at all.—adj. and n. Nothingā′rian, believing nothing.—ns. Nothingā′rianism; Noth′ing-gift (Shak.), a gift of no value; Noth′ingism, nihility; Noth′ingness, state of being nothing or of no value: a thing of no value.—Nothing but, no more than: only; Nothing less than, equal to: as much as.—Come to nothing, to have no result: to turn out a failure; Make nothing of, to consider as of no difficulty or importance; Neck or nothing (see Neck); Next to nothing, almost nothing. [No and thing.]

The Roycroft Dictionary

  1. nothing

    1. A negative which is the reality behind every ghostly affirmative. 2. Something that has density without weight, like a barber's breath.

Suggested Resources

  1. nothing

    Song lyrics by nothing -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by nothing on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'NOTHING' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #266

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'NOTHING' in Written Corpus Frequency: #272

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce NOTHING?

How to say NOTHING in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of NOTHING in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of NOTHING in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of NOTHING in a Sentence

  1. Paul Kantner:

    We didn't even know what we were doing when we started doing it, looking back, all we were saying was, 'Look, we're having a good time.' And nothing else.

  2. Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, quoted in V Rich, Nature, 1977, 270, pp470-1:

    There is nothing more practical than a good theory.

  3. Med Jones:

    Nothing is worth your peace of mind, not even your own ego.

  4. Thomas Jefferson:

    Man is fed with fables through life, and leaves it in the belief he knows something of what has been passing, when in truth he has known nothing but what has passed under his own eye.

  5. Ludwig Wittgenstein:

    Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.

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Popularity rank by frequency of use

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References

Translations for NOTHING

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"NOTHING." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/NOTHING>.

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