nullus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *noinolos, from *ne oinolos, from Proto-Italic *oinos (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *óynos. By surface analysis, ne (“not”) +‎ ūllus (“any”), literally “not any”.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈnuːl.lus/, [ˈnuːlːʲʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnul.lus/, [ˈnulːus]

Pronoun

nūllus (feminine nūlla, neuter nūllum); first/second-declension adjective (pronominal)

1. no one, none, not any, nothing

   Nūllum amat.

   He loves no one.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (pronominal).

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	nūllus	nūlla	nūllum		nūllī	nūllae	nūlla
Genitive	nūllī̆us				nūllōrum	nūllārum	nūllōrum
Dative	nūllī				nūllīs
Accusative	nūllum	nūllam	nūllum		nūllōs	nūllās	nūlla
Ablative	nūllō	nūllā	nūllō		nūllīs
Vocative	nūlle	nūlla	nūllum		nūllī	nūllae	nūlla

Adjective

nūllus (feminine nūlla, neuter nūllum); first/second-declension adjective (pronominal)

1. no, not any
   • c. 97 CE – 104 CE, Pliny the Younger, Epistulae 1.9:

     nūllā spē, nūllō timōre sollicitor, nūllīs rūmōribus inquiētor: mēcum tantum et cum libellīs loquor.

     I am not disturbed by any hope, not by any fear; I am not disquieted by any rumours: I speak only with me and with the little books.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (pronominal).

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	nūllus	nūlla	nūllum		nūllī	nūllae	nūlla
Genitive	nūllī̆us				nūllōrum	nūllārum	nūllōrum
Dative	nūllī				nūllīs
Accusative	nūllum	nūllam	nūllum		nūllōs	nūllās	nūlla
Ablative	nūllō	nūllā	nūllō		nūllīs
Vocative	nūlle	nūlla	nūllum		nūllī	nūllae	nūlla

Derived terms

• annūllō
• homō nūllīus colōris
• nōnnūllus
• nullātenus
• nūllātiō
• nullibi
• nūllificāmen
• nūllificō
• nūllusdum

 

Related terms

• annullātiō
• nullificāmen
• nullificātiō

Descendants

Romance

Some Romance descendants may be borrowings.

• Gallo-Italic
  • Piedmontese: nul
• → Catalan: nul
• Italo-Dalmatian
  • Dalmatian: nolja f
  • Italian: nullo m; nulla f
    • → German: Nulla, Null (see there for further descendants)
  • Sicilian: nuḍḍu
• → Old French: nul (see there for further descendants)
  • French: nul
  • → Dutch: nul
  • → English: null
  • → Romanian: nul
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansch: nulla, nul, nola, nolla
• West Iberian
  • Portuguese: nulo
  • Spanish: nulo

Other languages

• → Belarusian: нуль (nulʹ)
• → Cimbrian: null
• → Czech: nula
• → Danish: nul
• → Eastern Mari: ноль (noĺ)
• → Estonian: null
• → Faroese: null
• → German: Null
• → Hungarian: nulla
• → Hunsrik: null
• → Finnish: nolla
• → Karelian: nol’a
• → Kazakh: нөл (nöl)
• → Kyrgyz: нөль (nöl)
• → Latvian: nulle
• → Lithuanian: nulis
• → Luxembourgish: Null
• → Macedonian: нула (nula)
• → Malay: nol
  • Indonesian: nol
• → Northern Sami: nolˈla
• → Norwegian Bokmål: null
• → Pennsylvania German: null
• → Russian: нуль (nulʹ)
  • → Kazakh: нөл (nöl)
  • → Uyghur: نۆل (nöl)
  • → Georgian: ნული (nuli)
  • → Armenian: նուլ (nul)
• → Serbo-Croatian: nula / нула
• → Silesian: nul
• → Slovak: nula
• → Swedish: noll
• → Tatar: nol
• → Turkmen: nol
• → Ukrainian: нуль (nulʹ)
• → Uzbek: nol
• → Veps: nol'
• → Voro: nulĺ
• → Votic: noľ
• → West Frisian: nul

References

• “nullus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nullus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nullus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• nullus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to devote every spare moment to...; to work without intermission at a thing: nullum tempus intermittere, quin (also ab opere, or ad opus)
    
  • to be of great (no) importance: magni (nullius) momenti esse
    
  • no opportunity of carrying out an object presents itself: nulla est facultas alicuius rei
    
  • to avoid no risk in order to..: nullum periculum recusare pro
    
  • I had not deserved it: nullo meo merito
    
  • not to leave off work for an instant: nullum tempus a labore intermittere
    
  • without any trouble: nullo negotio
    
  • without reflection; inconsiderately; rashly: nullo consilio, nulla ratione, temere
    
  • to make all possible haste to..: nullam moram interponere, quin (Phil. 10. 1. 1)
    
  • without delay: sine mora or nulla mora interposita
    
  • nothing will ever make me forgetful of him: memoriam eius nulla umquam delebit (obscurabit) oblivio (Fam. 2. 1)
    
  • to know nothing of logic: disserendi artem nullam habere
    
  • to arrange on strictly logical principles: ratione, eleganter (opp. nulla ratione, ineleganter, confuse) disponere aliquid
    
  • to say nothing either for or against an argument: in nullam partem disputare
    
  • no sound passed his lips: nulla vox est ab eo audita
    
  • to not say a word: nullum (omnino) verbum facere
    
  • no word escaped him: nullum verbum ex ore eius excidit (or simply ei)
    
  • not to understand a single word: verbum prorsus nullum intellegere
    
  • to possess not the least spark of feeling: nullam partem sensus habere
    
  • to fulfil one's duty in every detail: nullam officii partem deserere
    
  • to act reasonably, judiciously: prudenter, considerate, consilio agere (opp. temere, nullo consilio, nulla ratione)
    
  • to be conscious of no ill deed: nullius culpae sibi conscium esse
    
  • with no moderation: sine modo; nullo modo adhibito
    
  • to have no principles: omnia temere agere, nullo iudicio uti
    
  • absence of scruples, unconscientiousness: nulla religio
    
  • to have no constitution, be in anarchy: nullam habere rem publicam
    
  • to be neutral: nullius or neutrius (of two) partis esse
    
  • lawlessness; anarchy: leges nullae
    
  • lawlessness; anarchy: iudicia nulla
    
  • there are whispers of the appointment of a dictator: non nullus odor est dictaturae (Att. 4. 18)
    
  • absence of justice: ius nullum
    
• nullus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016