naught

naught
/nawt/, n.
1. nothing.
2. a cipher (0); zero.
3. come to naught, to come to nothing; be without result or fruition; fail.
4. set at naught, to regard or treat as of no importance; disdain: He entered a milieu that set his ideals at naught.
adj.
5. lost; ruined.
6. Archaic. worthless; useless.
7. Obs. morally bad; wicked.
adv.
8. Obs. not.
Also, nought.
[bef. 900; ME; OE nauht, nawiht (na NO1 + wiht thing). See NOUGHT, WIGHT1, WHIT]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Naught — Naught, a. 1. Of no value or account; worthless; bad; useless. [1913 Webster] It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer. Prov. xx. 14. [1913 Webster] Go, get you to your house; begone, away! All will be naught else. Shak. [1913 Webster] Things… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Naught — (n[add]t), n. [OE. naught, nought, naht, nawiht, AS. n[=a]wiht, n[=a]uht, n[=a]ht; ne not + [=a] ever + wiht thing, whit; hence, not ever a whit. See {No}, adv. {Whit}, and cf. {Aught}, {Not}.] 1. Nothing. [Written also {nought}.] [1913 Webster]… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • naught — naught, nought Naught is an archaic or literary word meaning ‘nothing’ and it survives chiefly in phrases such as come to naught or set at naught. In BrE nought is the term for the digit 0 (zero in AmE). The game called noughts and crosses in BrE …   Modern English usage

  • Naught — Naught, adv. In no degree; not at all. Chaucer. [1913 Webster] To wealth or sovereign power he naught applied. Fairfax. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • naught — [nôt] pron. [ME < OE nawiht < na (see NO1) + wiht (see WIGHT1, WHIT)] nothing n. 1. nothing 2. alt. sp. of NOUGHT …   English World dictionary

  • naught — [no:t US no:t] pron old use [: Old English; Origin: nawiht] nothing ▪ All their plans came to naught (=failed) …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • naught — [ nɔt ] noun uncount LITERARY nothing a. zero come to/be for naught to have no effect or fail completely …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • naught — naught; con·naught; …   English syllables

  • naught — index nullity Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • naught — (n.) O.E. nawiht nothing, lit no whit, from na no (from PIE root *ne no, not; see UN (Cf. un ) (1)) + wiht thing, creature, being (see WIGHT (Cf. wight)). Cognate with O.S. neowiht …   Etymology dictionary

  • naught — ► PRONOUN archaic ▪ nothing. ► NOUN N. Amer. ▪ nought. ORIGIN Old English …   English terms dictionary

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