naught

naught
naught (n.) O.E. nawiht "nothing," lit "no whit," from na "no" (from PIE root *ne- "no, not;" see UN- (Cf. un-) (1)) + wiht "thing, creature, being" (see WIGHT (Cf. wight)). Cognate with O.S. neowiht "nothing," O.H.G. niwiht, Goth. ni waihts. It also developed an adjectival sense in Old English, "good for nothing," which by mid-16c. had focused to "morally bad, wicked." In arithmetic, "the figure zero" from 1640s.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Naught — Naught, a. 1. Of no value or account; worthless; bad; useless. [1913 Webster] It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer. Prov. xx. 14. [1913 Webster] Go, get you to your house; begone, away! All will be naught else. Shak. [1913 Webster] Things… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Naught — (n[add]t), n. [OE. naught, nought, naht, nawiht, AS. n[=a]wiht, n[=a]uht, n[=a]ht; ne not + [=a] ever + wiht thing, whit; hence, not ever a whit. See {No}, adv. {Whit}, and cf. {Aught}, {Not}.] 1. Nothing. [Written also {nought}.] [1913 Webster]… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • naught — naught, nought Naught is an archaic or literary word meaning ‘nothing’ and it survives chiefly in phrases such as come to naught or set at naught. In BrE nought is the term for the digit 0 (zero in AmE). The game called noughts and crosses in BrE …   Modern English usage

  • Naught — Naught, adv. In no degree; not at all. Chaucer. [1913 Webster] To wealth or sovereign power he naught applied. Fairfax. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • naught — [nôt] pron. [ME < OE nawiht < na (see NO1) + wiht (see WIGHT1, WHIT)] nothing n. 1. nothing 2. alt. sp. of NOUGHT …   English World dictionary

  • naught — [no:t US no:t] pron old use [: Old English; Origin: nawiht] nothing ▪ All their plans came to naught (=failed) …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • naught — [ nɔt ] noun uncount LITERARY nothing a. zero come to/be for naught to have no effect or fail completely …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • naught — naught; con·naught; …   English syllables

  • naught — index nullity Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • naught — ► PRONOUN archaic ▪ nothing. ► NOUN N. Amer. ▪ nought. ORIGIN Old English …   English terms dictionary

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