nothing
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English
Alternative forms
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):
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: noth‧ing
- Rhymes: -ʌθɪŋ
Pronoun
nothing (indefinite pronoun)
- Not any thing; no thing.
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:
- the players see little or nothing of their cards at first starting
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
- 2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:
- Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.
- An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.
Synonyms
- (not any thing):
- (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
Translations
not any thing
|
something trifling
|
Noun
nothing (countable and uncountable, plural nothings)
- Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.
- - What happened to your face?
- It's nothing.
- 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ . A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. , 2nd edition, London: Richard Royston , published 1655, →OCLC:
- Sermons are not like curious inquiries after new nothings, but pursuances of old truths.
- 2003, Sonic Team USA, Sonic Heroes, Sega, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, level/area: Final Fortress:
- Knuckles: The Egg Carrier is nothing compared to this!
- A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.
- A nobody (insignificant person).
Translations
something trifling, or of no consequence or importance
a nobody, a person of no consequence
Adverb
nothing (not comparable)
- (archaic) Not at all; in no way.
- 1855, The Ladies' Repository, volume 15, page 544:
- The answer was an impatient one—but, nothing daunted, he continued.
- 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems:
- The Motion from London to Syria is as much as nothing; and nothing altereth the relation which is between them.
Adjective
nothing (not comparable)
- Completely unimportant.
- Dallas scored on what had seemed until then like a nothing play.
- Lacking effort or commitment.
- The cricketer played a nothing shot.
Interjection
nothing
- Never mind; it's not important; forget what I said.
Derived terms
Terms derived from the pronoun, noun, or adverb nothing
- ain't nothing but a thang
- all-or-nothing
- and nothing of value was lost
- apropos of nothing
- as if nothing had happened
- benothing
- better than nothing
- come to nothing
- dance on nothing
- dance upon nothing
- do nothing
- do-nothing
- double or nothing
- for nothing
- get-nothing
- go for nothing
- good-for-nothing
- good for nothing
- have nothing on someone
- have nothing on (someone)
- here goes nothing
- hiding to nothing
- if nothing else
- in nothing flat
- it's nothing
- know-nothing
- leave nothing in the tank
- leave nothing to the imagination
- less than nothing
- make nothing of
- much ado about nothing
- neck or nothing
- next to nothing
- not for nothing
- nothing about us without us
- nothing at all
- nothing ball
- nothingburger, nothing-burger, nothing burger
- nothing but
- nothing but net
- nothing-buttery
- nothing doing
- nothing else for it
- nothing for it
- nothing if not
- nothing is said that has not been said before
- nothing like
- nothingness
- nothing new under the sun
- nothing personal
- nothing sandwich
- nothing special
- nothing succeeds like success
- nothing to choose between
- nothing to it
- nothing to see
- nothing to sneeze at
- nothing to write home about
- nothing-up-my-sleeve number
- say nothing
- shared-nothing
- shot to nothing
- something and nothing
- something is better than nothing
- stick at nothing
- stop at nothing
- sweet nothing
- thanks for nothing
- there is nothing new under the sun
- there's nothing to it
- thing of nothing
- think nothing of
- think nothing of it
- to say nothing of
- want for nothing
- you can't get something for nothing
- you don't get something for nothing
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to the pronoun, noun, or adverb nothing
Coordinate terms
References
- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “nothing”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.