nihil

English

Etymology

From Latin nihil, nil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪ.hɪl/, /ˈniː(h)ɪl/, /ˈnaɪ(h)ɪl/, /-əl/
• Rhymes: -aɪəl

Noun

nihil (countable and uncountable, plural nihils)

1. (countable, law) A nihil dicit.
2. (uncountable, chiefly philosophy) nothingness, nonbeing
   • 1996, David Tibet, “The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal)” (lyrics):

     I shall no longer believe all the visions of my youth:
     They have dissolved into nihil.

   • 2008, Arvydas Šliogeris, Names of Nihil, page 13:

     All tales about the beginning are apt to eliminate the nothing and make being overall. […] Without Nihil the whirlpool of the beginning settles down and becomes a stagnant puddle of pure being. Nihil disappears.

   • 2009, Walter Brueggemann, An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible, page 143:

     That is, in the sovereign act of creation, whereby YHWH orders chaos, YHWH provisionally defeated the power of the Nihil but did not destroy or eliminate the threat of chaos.

Derived terms

• nihilhood

Related terms

• nihil obstat

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnihil/

Pronoun

nihil

1. (indefinite) The absence of anything; nothing.

Latin

Alternative forms

• nīl
• nichil (medieval spelling)

Etymology

From nihilum, from ne- (“not”) +‎ hīlum (“the least bit”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈni.hil/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈni.kil/,

Pronoun

nihil n sg (indeclinable, no genitive)

1. (indefinite) nothing

   Nīl·ne in mentem·st? ― Cannot you think of anything?

   Nihil est. ― It's nothing/It doesn't matter.

   Nihil sub sōle novum. ― Nothing new under the sun (proverb).

   • 163 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Heauton Timorumenos 1.77:

     Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.

     I am a man, I consider nothing that is human alien to me.

   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.8:

     Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas quod non ego non modo audiam sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.

     You do nothing, you plan nothing, you think of nothing which I not only do not hear, but which I do not see and know every particular of.

Usage notes

• This pronoun can be used with a neuter nominative/accusative singular adjective (e.g. nihil bonum), or with the genitive singular of a second-declension neuter adjective (e.g. nihil bonī), but it is not used with the genitive singular of third-declension adjectives.
• In Latin, negation is expressed by a single negative word per clause (i.e., Latin does not have negative concord). If another negative word is present, such as nec (“nor, and not”) or numquam (“never”), the negative polarity pronoun quidquam/quicquam (“anything”) is used instead of nihil (“nothing”) unless the pronoun represents a second, logically distinct negation.

Declension

Not declined; used only in the nominative and accusative singular, singular only.

The senses of the remaining cases are usually rendered with forms of nūllus + rēs, e.g. genitive nūllīus reī. The genitive nihilī and the ablative nihilō, from nihilum, have idiomatic senses.

Derived terms

Related terms

• adnihilātiō
• adnihilātor

Descendants

• → Portuguese: nicles

References

• “nihil”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nihil”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nihil in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• nihil in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I cannot wait till..: nihil mihi longius est or videtur quam dum or quam ut
    
  • nothing is more tiresome to me than..: nihil mihi longius est quam (c. Inf.)
    
  • a wise man is in no way affected by this: hoc nihil ad sapientem pertinet
    
  • to live a life free from all misfortune: nihil calamitatis (in vita) videre
    
  • to afford no consolation: nihil habere consolationis
    
  • to considerably (in no way) further the common good: multum (nihil) ad communem utilitatem afferre
    
  • I will refuse you nothing: nihil tibi a me postulanti recusabo
    
  • not to trouble oneself about a thing: nihil omnino curare
    
  • there is nothing I am more interested in than..: nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)
    
  • to live as scrupulously moral a life as ever: nihil ex pristina virtute remittere
    
  • to do no business with a man: nihil cum aliquo contrahere
    
  • not to mention..: ut non (nihil) dicam de...
    
  • but this is not to the point: sed hoc nihil (sane) ad rem
    
  • there is something in what you say; you are more or less right: aliquid (τι) dicis (opp. nihil dicis)
    

Malay

Alternative forms

• نيهيل

Etymology

From Latin nihil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nihel/
• Rhymes: -hel, -el

Numeral

nihil (Jawi spelling نيهيل)

1. zero

Synonyms

• kosong / کوسوڠ
• sifar / صفر
• nol / نول