Word of the Day

: July 29, 2007

null

adjective NULL

What It Means

1 : having no legal or binding force : invalid

2 : having no value : insignificant

3 : of, being, or relating to zero

null in Context

The entertainer's contract will be rendered null and void if he should miss more than five appearances during the year.

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 math, 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").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.