naught

Or nought

[nawt]

noun

1. nothing.

2. a cipher (0); zero.

adjective

1. lost; ruined.

2. Archaic.,  worthless; useless.

3. Obsolete.,  morally bad; wicked.

adverb

1. Obsolete.,  not.

naught

/ nɔːt /

noun

1. archaic,  nothing or nothingness; ruin or failure

2. a variant spelling (esp US) of nought

3. to have disregard or scorn for; disdain

adverb

1. archaic,  not at all

   it matters naught

adjective

1. obsolete,  worthless, ruined, or wicked

Word History and Origins

Origin of naught¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English nauht, nāwiht ( nā no ¹ + wiht thing). See nought, wight ¹, whit

Word History and Origins

Origin of naught¹

Old English nāwiht, from nā _no ¹ + wiht thing, person; see _wight ¹ , _whit

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. come to naught, to come to nothing; be without result or fruition; fail.

2. set at naught, to regard or treat as of no importance; disdain.

   He entered a milieu that set his ideals at naught.

see come to nothing (naught).

Example Sentences

Otherwise, all of the dinosaur danger is for naught.

From Salon

But it was all for naught: On Thursday, Tamaulipas prosecutors confirmed that authorities had discovered the bodies of the five at an unspecified site in Reynosa.

From Los Angeles Times

All that brainpower would have been for naught, however, save for the beneficence of Uncle Sam.

From Los Angeles Times

He was naught to know that the Palisades and Eaton fires would go on to burn more than double the urban acreage that Woolsey had.

From Los Angeles Times

Still, the fact remains that within a generation, the beacon of the system that drew my husband’s family and thousands of other families like them to California is naught but a dream for most.

From Los Angeles Times