12 results for: nil Browse Nearby Entries
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
nil    Audio Help   [nil] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.nothing; naught; zero.
–adjective
2.having no value or existence: His credit rating is nil.

[Origin: 1805–15; < L nīl, var. (by apocope) of nīlum, contr. of nihilum nothing, equiv. to ni (var. of ne not) + hīlum trifle]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nil

To learn more about nil visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nil    Audio Help   (nĭl)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Nothing; zero.


[Latin nīl, contraction of nihil; see ne in Indo-European roots.]

nil adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nil 
"nothing," 1833, from L. nil, contraction of nihil, nihilum "nothing," from ne- "not" (see un-) + hilum "small thing, trifle," of unknown origin.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
nil

noun
a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nil [nil] noun
(in scoring) nothing; zero
Example: Leeds United won two-nil / by two goals to nil.
Arabic: صِفْر، لا شيء
Chinese (Simplified):
Chinese (Traditional):
Czech: nic, nula
Danish: nul
Dutch: nul
Estonian: null
Finnish: nolla
French: rien, zéro
German: die Null
Greek: μηδέν, τίποτα
Hungarian: nulla
Icelandic: núll, ekkert
Indonesian: nol
Italian: zero
Japanese:
Korean: 영, 전무
Latvian: nulle
Lithuanian: nulis
Norwegian: null
Polish: zero
Portuguese (Brazil): zero
Portuguese (Portugal): zero
Romanian: zero; nimic
Russian: ноль
Slovak: nič, nula
Slovenian: nič
Spanish: cero
Swedish: ingenting, noll
Turkish: sıfır, hiç
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

NIL
/nil/ 1. New Implementation of Lisp. A language intended to be the successor of MacLisp. A large Lisp, implemented mostly in VAX assembly language. A forerunner of Common LISP.
["NIL: A Perspective", Jon L. White, MACSYMA Users' Conf Proc, 1979].
2. Network Implementation Language. Strom & Yemini, TJWRC, IBM. Implementation of complex networking protocols in a modular fashion.
["NIL: An Integrated Language and System for Distributed Programming", R. Strom et al, SIGPLAN Notices 18(6):73-82 (June 1983)].
3. Empty list or False. In Lisp, the empty list (or "nil list") is used to represent the Boolean value False. This is possible because Lisp is not typed. True is represented by the special atom "t".
4. Spoken in reply to a question, particularly one asked using the "-P" convention it means "No". Most hackers assume this derives simply from LISP, but NIL meaning "no" was well-established among radio hams decades before LISP existed. The historical connection between early hackerdom and the ham radio world was strong enough that this may have been an influence.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

NIL

/nil/ No. Used in reply to a question, particularly one asked using the `-P' convention. Most hackers assume this derives simply from LISP terminology for `false' (see also T), but NIL as a negative reply was well-established among radio hams decades before the advent of LISP. The historical connection between early hackerdom and the ham radio world was strong enough that this may have been an influence.

Jargon File 4.2.0
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nil

Nil\ [See Nill, v. t.] Will not. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nil

Nil\, n. & a. [L., a contr. of nihil.] Nothing; of no account; worthless; -- a term often used for canceling, in accounts or bookkeeping. --A. J. Ellis.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
NIL
nothing, I have nothing for you (shortwave transmission)

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

NIL

NIL: in Acronym Finder

Acronym Finder, © 1988-2007 Mountain Data Systems
On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

nil

nil: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

On-line Medical Dictionary, © 1997-98 Academic Medical Publishing & CancerWEB
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