Null
/nʌl/
Definitions
2 meaningsHaving no legal or binding force; invalid; amounting to nothing; nonexistent.
/nʌl/
Having no value, effect, or meaning
The judge declared the marriage null and void due to fraud.
💡 Simply: Imagine you try to start a game but there's no score yet – it’s at zero. That zero score is like 'null', meaning nothing is there yet, or it doesn't have any value right now. For example: 'My efforts to change the law were declared null'. That means they didn't work and the old law still applied.
👶 For kids: Like when you have an empty box, there is nothing in it. Null means 'nothing' or 'zero'.
More Examples
The company's promise to provide the service was rendered null by the lack of funding.
A null hypothesis is often tested in scientific experiments.
How It's Used
"The contract was declared null and void."
"The program returned a null value."
A lack of value; zero; an absence of any data or information.
/nʌl/
A value or piece of data that represents 'nothing'
In this database, the missing data is represented by 'null'.
💡 Simply: Imagine a field in a form where you haven't entered any information yet. That empty spot, where there's nothing, is similar to 'null.' It's a placeholder meaning no value is stored. For example: 'The database returned a null value because there was no customer record matching the search criteria.'
👶 For kids: It's like an empty space or a blank in a game or computer. It means there is nothing there.
More Examples
A null value in a variable indicates the absence of a meaningful value.
Checking for null is important when working with pointers in C++ to avoid errors.
How It's Used
"In many programming languages, a null pointer represents an invalid memory address."
"The null set contains no elements."
From Latin *nullus*, meaning 'none' or 'not any'.
The word 'null' has been used in legal and philosophical contexts for centuries, derived from Latin. Its meaning has evolved slightly over time, but the core sense of 'nothing' or 'invalid' has remained consistent.
Memory tip
Think of 'null' as empty or zero.