Null

WORD OF THE DAY

null / adjective / NULL 

Definition

1a: having no legal or binding force 

1b: invalid

2a: amounting to nothing 

2b: nil

3a: having no value 

3b: insignificant

4a: having no elements

4b: having zero as a limit

5: of, being, or relating to zero

Examples

"If a teacher organization is found in contempt, any collective bargaining agreement they worked on would be rendered null and they would be barred from collecting dues." 

— Jesse Paul, The Denver Post, 23 Apr. 2018

"While negative and null results can often be overlooked—by authors and publishers alike—their publication is equally as important as positive outcomes and can help fill in critical gaps in the scientific record." 

— PLOS.org, 6 Apr. 2020

Did You Know?

English borrowed null from the Anglo-French nul, meaning "not any." That word, in turn, traces to the Latin word nullus, from ne-, meaning "not," and ullus, meaning "any." 

Null often pops up in legal and scientific contexts. It was originally used in Scottish law and still carries the meaning "having no legal or binding force." 

In mathematics, it is sometimes used to mean "containing nothing"; for example, the set of all whole numbers that are divisible by zero is the "null set" (that is, there are no numbers that fit that description). 

But null also has some more general uses. We often use it with the meaning "lacking meaning or value," as in "By the time I heard it, the news was null."