English
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Null comes from Middle French nul ‘nobody’, from Latin nūllus ‘no one, none, not any, nothing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oinos‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*noinolosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūllus‘no one, none, not any, nothing’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400nul‘nobody’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘nobody’
- Englishearliest quotation 1605null
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oinos‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*noinolosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūllus‘no one, none, not any, nothing’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400nul‘nobody’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘nobody’
- Englishearliest quotation 1605null
Earliest quotation: 1605, Francis Bacon, The Second Booke: “The kindes of Cyphars, (beſides the Simple Cyphars with…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ís ‘this, he’
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
an, one, no, only, any, none, universally, 20 more
through Proto-Italic *oinos ‘one’
Today it means
noun A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos / null