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Noun
That's much higher than with other infectious diseases, such as Ebola with an R naught of 2.—Alyson Hurt, NPR, 28 Feb. 2025 That's for naught if conservatives tank the bill first.—Hans Nichols, Axios, 25 Feb. 2025 There has been incessant trading in these two companies for years now — all, in retrospect, for naught.—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2025 Imagine if the Aztecs, who happily sent their young up the pyramid to be horrible killed for a bunch of mythical lizards, realized their sacrifices were for naught.—Clem Chambers, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for naught
Word History
Etymology
Pronoun and Noun
Middle English nought, from Old English nāwiht, from nā no + wiht creature, thing — more at no, wight
First Known Use
Pronoun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of naught was
before the 12th century
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