zero
/ˈzɪroʊ/·제로·noun
the number 0
ArabicCEFR A1
Root
Arabic 'sifr' (empty)
Arabic sifr (empty) → Medieval Latin zephirum → Italian zero → English zero
In a word
Arabic sifr = 'empty'. The word travelled through Medieval Latin zephirum and Italian zero before reaching English. The same sifr also became English cipher. Treating "nothing" as a number was an Indo-Arabic invention; the word still carries that history.
Examples
The temperature dropped to zero.
They scored zero in the first half.
Zero is not just nothing — it is a number.
Related
cipheralgebraalgorithm