nothing

English Online Dictionary. What means nothing‎? What does nothing mean?

English

Alternative forms

• (nonstandard) nuffin, nuffink, nuttin, nuttin', nuthin, nuthin', nuthing, nothin', nothink

Etymology

From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no +‎ thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: nŭth'ĭng, IPA^(key): /ˈnʌθɪŋ/; (less common) /nɒ-/, /-ŋk/
• (informal) IPA^(key): [ˈnʌʔn̩]
• Hyphenation: noth‧ing
• Rhymes: -ʌθɪŋ

Pronoun

nothing (indefinite pronoun)

1. Not any thing; no thing.
2. An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.

Synonyms

• (not any thing):
  • (standard): not a thing, naught
  • (slang): jack, nada, zip, zippo, zilch, squat, nix
  • (vulgar slang): bugger all, jack shit, sod all (British), fuck all, dick
  • (Northern English dialect): nowt

See Thesaurus:nothing

• (something trifling): nothing of any consequence, nothing consequential, nothing important, nothing significant, something inconsequential, something insignificant, something of no consequence, something trifling, something unimportant

Antonyms

• anything
• everything
• something

Translations

Noun

nothing (countable and uncountable, plural nothings)

1. Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.
2. A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.
3. A nobody (insignificant person).

Translations

Adverb

nothing (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Not at all; in no way.

Adjective

nothing (not comparable)

1. Completely unimportant.

2. Lacking effort or commitment.

Interjection

nothing

1. Never mind; it's not important; forget what I said.

Derived terms

Related terms

Coordinate terms

• nobody, no one
• nowhere

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “nothing”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.