Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: NUMBERS

Date: 1600-1700
Language: French
Origin: zéro, from Arabic sifr 'empty, nothing'

zero

1 number
     
ze‧ro1 plural zeros or zeroes
1HMN the number 0 [= nought British English]
Make X greater than or equal to zero.
2TMHMN the point between + and - on a scale for measuring something, or the lowest point on a scale that shows how much there is left of something:
The petrol gauge was already at zero.
3TMT a temperature of 0° on the Celsius or Fahrenheit scale
above/below zero
It was five degrees below zero last night.
➔ absolute zero, sub-zero
4 none at all, or the lowest possible amount
somebody's chances are zero (=they have no chance of success)
Mike's chances of winning are virtually zero.
From 1971 to 1976 West Vancouver experienced zero population growth.
Definition of zero from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic NUMBERS
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vulgar fraction

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