Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nil” come from?

Nil comes from Latin nihil, a contraction of ne and hilum meaning "not a small thing," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne meaning "not."

nil (English): Nothing; zero; No, not any

Definitions

  1. Nothing; zero; No, not any

Ancestry of “nil”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinnīl—
2Sanskritनीलof a dark color
3Proto-Indo-EuropeanneyH-to lead

Words derived from “nil”

  • nilpotent
  • niladic
  • nilprogression
  • quasinilpotent
  • nilmanifold
  • nilpotently
  • nilsequence
Every word from Proto-Indo-European neyH- →