nought
UK /nɔːt/ · US /nɔt/ noun, adjective, verb, adverb, pronoun
Also a form of naught
Forms noughts noughting noughted naught nowt
- noun A thing or person of no worth or value; nil.
- noun Not any quantity of number; zero; the score of no points in a game. “0.335 cm is nought/zero point three three five of a centimeter.”
- noun The figure or character representing, or having the shape of, zero.
- adjective (obsolete) Good for nothing; worthless.
- adjective Wicked, immoral.
- verb To abase, to set at nought.
- adverb To no extent; in no way; not at all.
- adverb Not.
- pronoun Nothing; zero.
Synonyms
good-for-naught no good valueless bastardly blown cacky chaffy cocking crapalicious cruddy cullionly draffish draffy dreckish drecky duffing floccinaucinihilipilificatious for the birds fucking garbagey zero 0 cipher cypher
Etymology
From Middle English nought, noght, noȝt, from Old English nōwiht, nāwiht, which in turn comes from ne-ā-wiht, which was a phrase used as an emphatic "no", meaning "not anything". Equivalent to ne + ought or ne + a + wight. Doublet of naught and not.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Contr. fr. ne would.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nought”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details