Do you know the definition of null? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word null, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!
-
Kevin
-
October 8, 2021
-
Common Questions
Your writing, at its best
Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant
What does the word null mean?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language and Collins English Dictionary, the word null is an adjective that means invalid, or having zero quantities. You will often hear this word used in the phrase null and void when it comes to legal force. The pronunciation of null is nʌl.
In physics, genetics, computer science SQL (Structured Query Language), computer language/ASCII (unicode character), and other sciences you might find a null hypothesis, a null value which is a zero reading or zero value, or a null error which is a quantity of no importance. A null condition in genetics is a complete loss of gene function formed as a result of a mutation. A null value in a database is a default value or empty value and special marker that is not zero, but not a value with validity. This special value in a null string is not considered an actual value or valid value in a set of values, but a zero quantity of expression. In electronics, null can refer to a point of minimum signal reception, as on a radio direction finder or other electronic meter.
Many different languages also contain words that mean null. You may notice that in this list of translations of null from Word Sense, some of these words look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words in different languages that look and sound similar because they have a shared root or language of origin.
- Hungarian: nulla, zéró
- Teochew: kang3, leng5
- Assamese: সূঞ (sūnya)
- Malayalam: പൂജ്യം
- Sanskrit: शून्य (śūnya), (numeral) ०
- Esperanto: nul
- Mongolian: тэг (classical Mongolian numeral: ᠐), бинт
- Corsican: zeru
- Kyrgyz: нөль
- Ido: zero
- Võro: nulĺ
- Cherokee: ᎧᏂᎩᏛ, Ꮭ ᎪᎱᏍᏗ
- Dhivehi: ސުން
- Khmer: សូន្យ (sōn), (numeral) ០
- German: null, Null (fem.), zero, Zero
- Korean: 영 (零), 령 (零) (North Korea), 공, 제로
- Asturian: cero
- Occitan: zèro
- Lojban: no
- Roman: nula (fem.)
- Chechen: нул
- Telugu: సున్నా, శూన్యము, (numeral) ౦
- Estonian: null
- Chamorro: tåya’
- Vietnamese: số không, zêrô
- Thai: ศูนย์, (numeral) ๐
- Bengali: শূন্য, (numeral) ০
- Slovene: nìč
- Russian: нуль (masc.), ноль (masc.), (rare) зеро́ (neut.)
- Turkish: sıfır
- Irish: neamhní, nialas, náid (fem.)
- Urdu: صفر (sifar)
- Japanese: 零 (れい, rei), ゼロ (zero), (numeral) 〇
- Interlingua: zero
- Malagasy: aotra
- Novial: sero
- Catalan: zero
- Persian: صِفر (sefr), (numeral) ۰
- Crimean Tatar: sıfır
- Karachay-Balkar: ноль (nol)
- Min Nan: 空 (khòng)
- Uzbek: nol, sifr
- Romanian: zero (neut.)
- Ojibwe: waawiyebii’igan, gaawiin gegoo
- Ukrainian: нуль (masc.), зеро́ (neut.)
- Portuguese: zero (masc.)
- Welsh: sero (masc.)
- Armenian: զրո
- Mandarin: 零 (líng), (numeral) 〇
- Lakota: tákuni
- Latin: zerum (neut.), nihilum (neut.), zephirum (masc.) (Mediaeval)
- Sindhi: ٻُڙِي (buri)
- Danish: nul, nulte
- Manx: neunhee
- Yiddish: נול
- Quechua: ch’usaq
- Swedish: noll
- Aramaic: ציפר
- Tongan: noa
- Maltese: żero
- Lao: ເລກສູນ, ສູນ (numeral: ໐)
- Afrikaans: nul
- Belarusian: нуль (masc.)
- Gujarati: મીંડું, (numeral) ૦, શૂન્ય
- Tibetan: ཀླད་ཀོར
- Arabic: صِفْر (masc.), (numeral) ٠
- Swahili: sifuri
- Uyghur: نۆل
- Galician: cero
- Lü: ᦉᦳᧃ (sun1)
- Burmese: သုည
- Finnish: nolla
- Cantonese: 零 (ling4)
- Nynorsk: null
- Tajik: сифр
- Kannada: ಸೊನ್ನೆ, ಶೂನ್ಯ
- Yup’ik: caunateng
- Latvian: nulle (fem.)
- Polish: zero (neut.)
- Kurdish: sifir
- Hawaiian: ʻole
- Somali: eber
- Navajo: ádin, názbąs
- Northern Sami: nol’la
- Tamil: பூஜியம்
- French: zéro (masc.)
- Punjabi: ਸਿਫ਼ਰ, (numeral) ੦
- Greek: μηδέν (neut.)
- Old English: nōwiht
- Dutch: nul
- Hindi: शून्य (masc.) (numeral: ०), ज़ीरो (borrowing)
- Sinhalese: ශුන්යය
- Icelandic: núll
- Lithuanian: nulis
- Slovak: nula (fem.)
- Spanish: cero (masc.)
- Turkmen: nol
- Jawi: کوسوڠ, صفر, نول, نيهيل
- West Frisian: nul
- Albanian: zero
- Bokmål: null
- Tatar: ноль
- Scottish Gaelic: neoni
- Cyrillic: нула (fem.)
- Czech: nula (fem.)
- Ottoman Turkish: صفر (sıfır)
- Faroese: null (neut.)
- Maori: kore
- Hijazi Arabic: صفر
- Amharic: ባዶ
- Kazakh: нөл
- Krio: ziro
- Volapük: ser, (older term) nosanum
- Breton: mann, zero
- Oriya: ଶୁନ୍ୟ (śunẏa)
- Tagalog: awan, sero
- Georgian: ნული
- Hebrew: אֶפֶס
- Italian: zero (masc.)
- Rapa Nui: kokore
- Shan: သူၼ် (sʰon1)
- Rumi: kosong, sifar, nol, nihil
- Bulgarian: ну́ла (fem.)
- Samoan: selo
- Indonesian: nol
- Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴰⵎⵢⴰ (amya)
- Azeri: sıfır
What is the origin of the word null?
According to Etymonline, the word woo has been used since c16. This word comes from the French nul, Latin nullus none/Latin nūllus, and the Latin prefix ne and Latin illus or ullus, a diminutive of unus. This comes from Proto-Indo-European roots. Once can add the suffixes tion, ity, and more to create the related words nullify, nullity, nullification, nullifidian, and nulliparous.
What are synonyms and antonyms of the word null?
There are many different words that a person can use in place of the word null. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same definition as another word or phrase. Synonyms are useful terms to learn if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself as well as if you are trying to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word null is provided by Power Thesaurus.
- not viable
- not effective
- devoid
- defeasible
- cypher
- nullity
- unratified
- nobody
- sweet fanny adams
- pathetic goose egg
- nix
- unprofitable
- absent
- useless
- nonexistent
- nonexistence
- nada
- goose eggs
- worthless
- inoperative
- vacuous
- lame
- unable
- value
- zilch
- revoked
- no things
- destroy
- unenforceable
- bupkis
- bad
- nought
- invalidity
- naught
- meaningless
- ineffectual
- dead
- slack-spined
- nothings
- valueless
- nullified
- futile
- trivial
- annulled
- nil
- zeroes
- nonentity
- nugatory
- dissolve
- voider
- cipher
- none
- unreal
- insignificant
- nixes
- vacant
- empty
- zero
- zeros
- abolish
- of no effect
- goose egg
- anticlimactic
- unsanctioned
- invalid
- no longer law
- false
- vain
- zipper
- set aside
- null and void
- zip
- inane
- void
- bugger all
- unimportant
- unavailing
- barren
- unexisting
- zippo
- ciphers
- immaterial
- nothingness
- blank
- not binding
- hollow
- aught
- negligible
- inefficacious
- nothing
- inadequate
- imaginary
- zeroed
- canceled
- indecisive
- voids
- emptiness
- negative
- zips
- ineffective
- invalids
There are also numerous different related words that mean the opposite of the word null. These are known as antonyms, which are another great way to work on expanding your vocabulary. This list of antonyms of the word null is also provided by Power Thesaurus.
- full monty
- almighty
- go
- authentic
- world-changing
- authorized
- admissible
- world-altering
- useful
- effective
- acceptable
- legitimate
- substantial
- above board
- approved
- worthy
- allowable
- invaluable
- right
- overarching
- legal
- good
- big deal
- the whole nine yards
- powerful
- worthwhile
- working
- prized
- game-changing
- strong
- top-of-mind
- valid
- fat
- effectual
- worth it
- genuine
- galaxy
- real
- valuable
- worth the trouble
- competent
- arrant
- the full nine yards
- worth the wait
- allowed
- top of mind
- solid
- dozen
- astir
- all
Overall, the word null means nothing or zero. This word is Latin in origin.
Sources:
