Definition:Zero/Linguistic Note

Linguistic Note on Zero

The Sanskrit word used by the early Indian mathematicians for zero was sunya, which means empty, or blank.

In Arabic this was translated as sifr.

This was translated via the Latin zephirum into various European languages as zero, cifre, cifra, and into English as zero and cipher.

Note that the plural of zero is either zeros or zeroes. On $\mathsf{Pr} \infty \mathsf{fWiki}$, zeroes is preferred.

The word zero can also be used as a verb, meaning to set (a value) to zero in the context of algorithms and computer science

The word zeroize can also be seen in this context.

Sources

• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $0$ Zero
• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): zero or zeroize
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $0$ Zero