different between nil vs nill

English

Etymology

From Latin n?l, a contraction of nihil, nihilum (“nothing”). See nihilism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

nil (usually uncountable, plural nils)

1. Nothing; zero.
   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19:

     As to Aristotle's influence on him, we are left free to conjecture whatever seems to us most plausible. For my part, I should suppose it nil.

Translations

Determiner

nil

1. No, not any.
   • 1982, Gavin Lyall, Conduct of Major Maxim, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd:

     But after two or three hours and nil results, you have to accept that the trail is cold and you can't justify that level of manpower.

Related terms

• nihilism

See also

• null
• nil desperandum

Anagrams

• -lin, Lin, Lin., lin, lin.

Golin

Alternative forms

• nl, n?

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [n???], [n?], [??n??l]

Noun

nil

1. liquid; water

Derived terms

References

• Gordon Bunn, Golin Grammar (1974)

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nil/

Pronoun

nil (indefinite)

1. nothing

Latin

Etymology

Clipping of nihil, in turn from nihilum, from ne- (“not”) + hilum (“a hilum; a trifle, a bagatelle”), or unknown origin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ni?l/, [ni???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /nil/, [nil]

Noun

n?l n (indeclinable)

1. (chiefly poetic) nothing

   Bene scripsisti de me, Thoma. Quam ergo mercedem accipies? Nil nisi te.

   You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward therefore will you receive? Nothing unless it is you.

References

• nil in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• nil in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Tok Pisin

Etymology

English needle.

Noun

nil

1. needle
2. thorn

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?l
• IPA^(key): /n?l/

Homophone: nil

Etymology 1

From Middle English nillen, from Old English nillan, nellan, nyllan (“to be unwilling, refuse, prevent; not want to”), corresponding to ne +? will. Cognate with Old Frisian nelle. Unrelated to Latin nolo which is constructed the same way, but the morphemes that compound both verbs are cognates.

Verb

nill (third-person singular simple present nills, present participle nilling, simple past and past participle nilled or (obsolete) nould)

1. (modal auxiliary, obsolete) To be unwilling; will not (+ infinitive).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, III.v:

     I here auow thee neuer to forsake. / Ill weares he armes, that nill them vse for Ladies sake.

   • 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, lxi:

     What I nill tell you ask (quoth she) in vain, / Nor mov'd by prayer, nor constrain'd by power.

2. (intransitive, archaic) To be unwilling.
   • 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Appendices):

     I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill.

3. (transitive, archaic) To reject, refuse, negate.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, II.vii:

     Certes (said he) I n’ill thine offred grace, / Ne to be made so happy do intend […].

Derived terms

• willy-nilly

Etymology 2

Compare Irish and Gaelic neul star, light. Compare nebula.

Noun

nill

1. Shining sparks thrown off from melted brass.
2. Scales of hot iron from the forge.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)