Where does “nothing” come from?

Nothing derives from Middle English noon thing and Old English nāþing, meaning no thing or not anything.

nothing (English): API; Not any thing; no thing; An absence of...

Definitions

  1. API; Not any thing; no thing; An absence of...

Ancestry of “nothing”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishnothyngNot any thing; no thing
2Old Englishnāþing

Words derived from “nothing

Every word from Old English nāþing