nought
n. UK //nˈɔːt// nought
From Middle English nought, noght, noȝt, from Old English nōwiht, nāwiht, which in turn comes from ne-ā-wiht, which was a phrase used as an emphatic "no", meaning "not anything". Equivalent to ne + ought or ne + a + wight. Doublet of naught and not.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated April 17, 2026