different between nil vs nul

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

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch nul, from Middle Dutch nul, from Middle French nul or Italian nulla, from Latin nullus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nœl/

Numeral

nul

1. zero

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin nullus (“none”), attested from 1888.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?nul/

Adjective

nul (feminine nul·la, masculine plural nuls, feminine plural nul·les)

1. null, insignificant, negligible
2. useless, inept

   Synonyms: inútil, inepte

3. null, void, invalid
4. null, absent, non-existent

   Synonyms: absent, inexistent

Related terms

• anul·lar

References

Further reading

• “nul” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “nul” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “nul” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Etymology

Via German Null (“zero”) and Italian nulla (“zero”) from New Latin n?lla (“zero”), a substantivization of the adjective Latin n?llus (“no”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nol/, [?n?l]

Numeral

nul

1. zero

Interjection

nul

1. no way (vehement refusal)

Synonyms

• niks, nix, du kan tro nej

Noun

nul n (singular definite nullet, plural indefinite nuller)

1. The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.

   En million er et ettal med seks nuller efter.

   One million is a one followed by six zeros.

2. (figuratively) A nobody, a nonentity.
3. (in the plural) 2000s (the first decade of the 21st century)

Declension

Descendants

• ? Icelandic: núll

Pronoun

nul (uninflected)

1. (determiner) no
2. (pronoun) nothing

Synonyms

• ingen, intet

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch nul, from Middle French nul, from Old French nul, nulle (modern French nul) or Italian nulla, from Latin n?lla, from Latin n?llus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n?l/
• Hyphenation: nul
• Rhymes: -?l

Numeral

nul

1. zero, nought

Derived terms

Noun

nul m (plural nullen, diminutive nulletje n)

1. (mathematics) A zero, naught, the numerical expression of none, nothing.
2. (figuratively) A score of zero, the worst possible result.
3. (figuratively) A good-for-nothing, worth-/use-less person.

Related terms

• annuleren (verb)
• nihil
• nulliteit

Descendants

• Afrikaans: nul

Adjective

nul (used only predicatively, not comparable)

1. (archaic) nul, void
2. worthless

Synonyms

• (void) ongeldig
• (worthless) waardeloos

Esperanto

Etymology

Back-formation from nulo.

Pronunciation

Numeral

nul

1. zero

Usage notes

Can be used with both singular and plural nouns. (E.g. “zero dollars” can be both “nul dolaro” or “nul dolaroj”.) There is no formal standard for grammatical plurality of numbers between -1 and 1.

French

Etymology

From Middle French nul, from Old French, from Latin nullus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nyl/

Adjective

nul (feminine singular nulle, masculine plural nuls, feminine plural nulles)

1. (indefinite, singular only) no, nil
2. of poor quality, lousy, rubbish
3. lame

Usage notes

• The plural forms of nul as a determiner are archaic.

Noun

nul m (plural nuls)

1. (sports) A draw.

Pronoun

nul ?

1. (literary) no one, nobody

Synonyms

• personne

Derived terms

Further reading

• “nul” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• l'un

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French nul, from Latin nullus.

Pronoun

nul

1. nobody; no one

Adjective

nul m (feminine singular nulle, masculine plural nuls, feminine plural nulles)

1. none (not any)

Descendants

• French: nul
• ? English: null

Old French

Etymology

Latin nullus.

Pronoun

nul (singular, nominative nus or nuls)

1. nobody; no one

Adjective

nul m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nule)

1. none (not any)

Descendants

• Middle French: nul
  • French: nul
  • ? English: null
• ? Dutch: nul
  • Afrikaans: nul

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) nulla
• (Sutsilvan) nola, nula
• (Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) nolla

Etymology

From Latin nullus.

Numeral

nul

1. (Sursilvan) zero