nihil¹

Meaning

1. indeclinableindefinitenothing
   Nihil est.It's nothing/It doesn't matter.
   Nihil sub sōle novum.Nothing new under the sun (proverb).
2. indeclinableindefinitenothing
   [Agorastocles] Ita me di ament, tardo amico nihil est quicquam inaequius, praesertim homini amanti, qui quidquid agit properat omnia. Sicut ego hos duco advocatos, homines spissigradissimos,[Agorastocles] May gods so love me, nothing is more unfair than having a slothful friend, even more so for a man in love, who in doing anything must all expedite. So I lead them, having called them forth, the most slow-paced men of them all, slower than freight ships [corbitae] upon a quiet sea.c. 194 BCE, Plautus, Poenulus 3.1.1–4
3. indeclinablenihil or nil + the enclitic particle -ne, nihilne or nilne — more emphatic in a negative sense, a stronger negative than nōn: nothing at all, not at all, none at all, not any
   Nīl·ne in mentem·st?Cannot you think of anything?
   Nihilne tē nocturnum praesidium Palātī, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populī, nihil concursus bonōrum omnium, nihil hic mūnītissimus habendī senātūs locus, nihil hōrum ōra voltūsque mōvērunt?Nothing at all! — you! — the nightly guard on the Palatine — nothing! — the patrols of the city — nothing! — the fear of the public — nothing! — the union of good people — nothing! — this most fortified place for holding the senate — nothing! — the faces and expressions of these [senators] — has moved [you]? (A somewhat literal interpretation with indications for spoken emphasis to convey the rhythmical effect of a series of rhetorical questions that exemplifies anaphora.)63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.1

In the readers how our graded readers gloss it

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

nihil omnino curare

not to trouble oneself about a thing.

ut non (nihil) dicam de...

not to mention...

nihil habere consolationis

to afford no consolation.

sed hoc nihil (sane) ad rem

but this is not to the point.

nihil cum aliquo contrahere

to do no business with a man.

hoc nihil ad sapientem pertinet

a wise man is in no way affected by this.

nihil calamitatis (in vita) videre

to live a life free from all misfortune.

nihil tibi a me postulanti recusabo

I will refuse you nothing.

Origins

From nihilum, from ne- (“not”) + hīlum (“the least bit”).

In English words that came into English from nihil

• nihilismnihilismus
• annihilateannihilātus
• nihilistnihil
• nilnīl
• annihilationannihilātiō
• annihilableannihilābilis
• nihilnihil
• nihilitynihilitās
• nihilationnihilō
• nihilatenihilō

Related words

Meaning

1. not comparableat all, in nothing, in no respect
   Quod non fore dicto audientes neque signa laturi dicantur, nihil se ea re commoveri: scire enim, quibuscumque exercitus dicto audiens non fuerit, aut male re gesta fortunam defuisse aut aliquo facinore comperto avaritiam esse convictam.That they would neither be listening to orders nor would advance during fight, he wasn't at all moved: he knew perfectly well that so had not happened, under the command of whomsoever soldiers may have refused to comply, but good luck had failed their leader, after having badly handled some situation, or by some crime comitted they had been justly accused of covetousness.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.40
2. not comparablerareto no purpose, in vain; for no reason, for nothing
   [Atticus] Quorsum tandem aut cur ista quaeris? [Marcvs] Nihil sane, nisi ne nimis diligenter inquiras in ea quae isto modo memoriae sint prodita.[Atticus] But why, why would you meditate over such things? [Marcus] Insooth, for no reason, if not that you won't take too close a look at them that be handed down in such a fashion.52 BCE – 51 BCE, Cicero, De legibus Liber I.4

Origins

From nihilum, from ne- (“not”) + hīlum (“the least bit”).