nothing

Nothing is the absence of any thing or event. In ordinary speech it denotes a lack of presence, significance, or quantity. In scientific and philosophical contexts the term becomes more nuanced: nothing is not simply empty space or a void, but a concept whose meaning depends on the disciplinary framework.

The word nothing derives from Old English na-thing, literally “no thing.” It has cognates in other Germanic languages and appears in a wide range of phrases such as nothingness, nothing at all, and for nothing.

Philosophical treatments of nothingness have a long history. In ancient thought, the problem of nothingness arose in discussions of coming-to-be and existence, with proponents arguing that being is the primary, and nothing is its negation. In the modern era, existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre treated nothingness as a structuring feature of consciousness and freedom, while Martin Heidegger explored the nothing as a phenomenon that discloses the meaning of being. In Buddhism, śūnyatā (emptiness) denotes the absence of inherent, independent essence in all things, emphasizing interdependence rather than a nihilistic void.

In science, nothing is rarely realized as a literal absence. A vacuum is a region with very low matter content but still governed by physical fields and quantum fluctuations. Quantum theory implies that even “empty” space teems with activity, such as virtual particles. Cosmological discussions about the universe arising from nothing remain speculative and depend on how “nothing” is defined in a physical sense.

In mathematics, nothing is closely associated with the empty set and with zero, representing the absence of quantity. The concept appears across disciplines and cultures as a way to articulate the limits of existence, count, and meaning.