1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Zero  \Ze"ro\,  n.;  pl  {Zeros}or  {Zeroes}.  [F.  z['e]ro,  from  Ar 
  [,c]afrun,  [,c]ifrun,  empty,  a  cipher.  Cf  {Cipher}.] 
  1.  (Arith.)  A  cipher;  nothing;  naught. 
 
  2.  The  point  from  which  the  graduation  of  a  scale,  as  of  a 
  thermometer,  commences. 
 
  Note:  Zero  in  the  Centigrade,  or  Celsius  thermometer,  and  in 
  the  R['e]aumur  thermometer,  is  at  the  point  at  which 
  water  congeals.  The  zero  of  the  Fahrenheit  thermometer 
  is  fixed  at  the  point  at  which  the  mercury  stands  when 
  immersed  in  a  mixture  of  snow  and  common  salt.  In 
  Wedgwood's  pyrometer,  the  zero  corresponds  with 
  1077[deg]  on  the  Fahrenheit  scale.  See  Illust.  of 
  {Thermometer}. 
 
  3.  Fig.:  The  lowest  point;  the  point  of  exhaustion;  as  his 
  patience  had  nearly  reached  zero. 
 
  {Absolute  zero}.  See  under  {Absolute}. 
 
  {Zero  method}  (Physics),  a  method  of  comparing,  or  measuring, 
  forces,  electric  currents,  etc.,  by  so  opposing  them  that 
  the  pointer  of  an  indicating  apparatus,  or  the  needle  of  a 
  galvanometer,  remains  at  or  is  brought  to  zero,  as 
  contrasted  with  methods  in  which  the  deflection  is 
  observed  directly;  --  called  also  {null  method}. 
 
  {Zero  point},  the  point  indicating  zero,  or  the  commencement 
  of  a  scale  or  reckoning. 

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