nought

[nawt]

noun

1. naught.

nought

/ nɔːt /

noun

1. the digit 0; zero: used esp in counting or numbering

noun

1. a variant spelling of naught

Word History and Origins

Origin of nought¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English nōht, contraction of nōwiht, equivalent to ne not + ōwiht aught ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of nought¹

Old English nōwiht, from ne not, no + ōwiht something; see _whit

Example Sentences

Root said he did not feel like he needed to bat in Canberra, despite falling to Mitchell Starc for scores of nought and eight in Perth.

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On nought not out at the end of the second day of the third Test against Pakistan at The Oval, Cook was convinced he was playing his last Test innings before being dropped.

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He had Lions captain Tom Haines miscue to mid-on with the fifth ball he bowled then Bethell, who spent 15 balls on nought, pulled to square leg.

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Vaughan made scores of 33 and nought, with no real hint of the glut of runs to come.

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“Who or what was I, any longer? My life, the life of London . . . of home and work . . . all that had somehow been set at nought, in the space of little more than a day.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• nonentity 

When To Use

What does nought mean?

Nought means nothing or none, as in All of my efforts at winning the game were for nought because I lost badly.Nought also refers to zero. For example, if your math class is in Room One-Nought-Seven, it is in Room 107. The informal term noughties for the decade of 2000–2009 comes from this sense.Nought is an alternate spelling of naught, which has the exact same meaning.Example: I had nought to do with breaking the lamp, but my mother still thought I was involved.