nothing

Etymology

From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

pron

1. Not any thing; no thing.
   the players see little or nothing of their cards at first starting 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
   Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting. 2013-07-19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30
2. An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.

noun

1. Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.
   - What happened to your face? - It's nothing.
   Knuckles: The Egg Carrier is nothing compared to this! 2003, Sonic Team USA, Sonic Heroes, Sega, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, level/area: Final Fortress
2. A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.
3. A nobody (insignificant person).

adv

1. (archaic) Not at all; in no way.
   The answer was an impatient one—but, nothing daunted, he continued. 1855, The Ladies' Repository, volume 15, page 544
   The Motion from London to Syria is as much as nothing; and nothing altereth the relation which is between them. 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems

adj

1. Completely unimportant.
   Dallas scored on what had seemed until then like a nothing play.