Naughty Once Meant Having Nothing
Naught means nothing. The adjective naughty began as a word for the poor and only later meant badly behaved.
Naught means nothing, and survives mainly in *come to naught* and as a name for zero. *Naughty* is built on it, and its history is uncomfortable: it first meant having nothing, that is, poor. It then came to mean morally bad, and finally weakened into the mild word used to children. Poverty, wickedness and mischief became one word in succession.
- Nothing. *All for naught.*
- Zero. *Nought point five.*
- Naughty — badly behaved. *A naughty child.*
- Nought — the British spelling for zero. *Noughts and crosses.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | naught | Come to naught. |
| Variant | nought | Nought point one. |
| Adjective | naughty | A naughty word. |
| Related | nothing | Nothing at all. |
| Related | aught | For aught I know. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Their efforts came to naught.Nothing.
- Noughts and crosses.American: tic-tac-toe.
- Naughty first meant poor.Having naught.
Words for zero
- Nought or naught — British, particularly in numbers
- Zero — from Arabic, through Italian
- Nil — from Latin *nihil*, used in scores
- Love — in tennis, possibly from French *l'oeuf*, an egg
- Duck — in cricket, from duck's egg
From Old English *nawiht*, from *na*, no, and *wiht*, a thing or creature — the same *wight* as in the old word for a person.
Naught or nought?
Nought is preferred for the number zero in British English. Naught is used for nothing in phrases like *come to naught*.
Why does tennis say love for zero?
The usual explanation is French *l'oeuf*, an egg, for the shape of a zero, though the evidence is not conclusive.