nothing

nothing, n. and adv.
  (ˈnʌθɪŋ)
  Forms: α. 1–2 nán, 1–6 na- (6–8 Sc. nai-, 6 nay-, 8–9 nae-), 3 nað-, 4 nat-. β. 3 none (3, 5 non), 3– no- (4–5 noo-, 6 noa-); also 1 -þinc, 4 -thinc, 5 -thynk, 7 -think; 1–5 -þing (3 -e), 3 -ðing, 4 -thinge, 4–6 -thyng(e, 5 -thyngge, -tyng; 9 dial. nothin', -en.
  [f. no a. + thing. In ME. written indifferently as one word or as two.]
  A. n. I. Not any (material or immaterial) thing; nought.
  1. a. In ordinary uses and constructions.
  In OE. and ME. frequently accompanied by another negative, as still in vulgar and dialect speech.

α c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxvi. §1 Nis nan þing soðre þonne þæt ðu seᵹst. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xvi. 23 On þam dæᵹe ᵹe ne biddað me nanes þinges. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 43 Ðat he ðarof ne forleas naþing ðe godd him hadde betaht. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 225 Ne ne mei na þing wiðstonden his wille. a 1300 Cursor M. 560 He has it wroght..for-þi es nathing him sua dere. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Matthias) 343, I na-thynge spek forthire her of his lowynge. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 175 He mysdois nocht in nathing. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 506 Thow fand me fechand nathing that followit to feid. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 390 That successione..has na thing ado now with the deuile. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. vi. 107 Leif nathing that belangis to the Paip. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. Prol. 63 Of the fishes, how copious thair thay ar, I neid to say naything. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. iii, Keep naithing up,—ye naithing have to fear. 1786 Burns Holy Fair xxv, Lasses that hae naething!

β a 1225 Ancr. R. 120 No þing þet heo deð nis Gode licwurðe ne icweme. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1126 Ðat water is so deades driuen, Non ðing ne mai ðor-inne liuen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2086 So moche poer him com to, þat him ne miȝte no þing atstonde. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 42 Freris schulle no þing apropre to hem self, neiþer hous ne place ne ony oþer þing. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 72 Thanne out of his place he crepte So stille that sche nothing herde. c 1450 Cron. Eng. ccxv. (Caxton, 1480) 202 So they slewe hir lord that no thynge was perceyued. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Collect 4 Trin., Without whom nothyng is strong, nothing is holy. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 118 b, Nothing escapeth their handes. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 151 He..bestoweth vppon them some other reward, and many times nothing at all. 1671 Milton Samson 1721 Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail Or knock the breast. 1733 Swift Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 694 He asks nothing; and thinks, like a philosopher, that he wants nothing. 1794 Paley Evid. (1825) II. 304 He..omitted nothing that was prescribed by the law. 1827 Southey Penins. War II. 4 Nothing which skill and expense could effect had been spared. 1864 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. vi. (1875) 85 From the Byzantine Empire..nothing could be hoped.

  b. Followed by a positive adj.

c 1205 Lay. 3014 Ah heo ne seide naþing soð, no more þenne hiire suster. 1548 Geste Pr. Masse 7478 Nothing grevouse at al, nothing holy at al. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 262 Therfore did we nothing in this warre contrary to our dutie. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 457 Ther's nothing ill can dwell in such a Temple. 1652 Sparke Prim. Devot. (1663) 442 There being in them nothing either petitory or gratulatory. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 70 Without thee nothing lofty can I sing. 1861 J. Nichol in Mem. (1896) 95 Remember the proverb, ‘Nothing great is easy’. 1892 Chamb. Jrnl. Oct. 636/2 Apsley Villa was nothing surprisingly grand.

  c. In proverbs and proverbial expressions.

1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 39 Whereas nothing is, the kynge must lose his ryght. 1562 ― Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 141 Where nothing is, a little thyng doth ease. Where al thyng is, nothyng can fully please. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 48 This Prouerbe.., that nothing who practiseth nothing shall haue. 1602 Breton Wonders Wks. (Grosart) II. 9/2 With that the young man replyed: oh sir, nothing venter, nothing haue. 1614 Cocks in Cal. Col. P., E. Indies 342 As the saying is, nothing seek nothing find. 1668 Sedley Mulberry Gard. iii. ii, Who ever caught any thing with a naked hook? Nothing venture, nothing win. a 1704 T. Brown To Author of Address in Collect. of Poems 97 Thou know'st the Proverb: Nothing due for naught. 1885 Cent. Mag. XXIX. 186/2 ‘Nothing venture, nothing have’, Betty replied saucily.

  d. Denoting mental inferiority.

a 1754 Fielding Essay on Nothing iii, A fellow, whom all the world knew to have Nothing in him.

  e. Denoting absence of religious belief.

1855 J. H. Newman Callista ii, There were a vast many persons who ought to be Catholics, but were heretics, or nothing at all. 1891 L. Falconer Mlle. Ixe i, Foreign governesses, in my opinion,..are always either Roman Catholics or nothing.

  f. As adj. or int. Not at all; in no respect. colloq. (orig. U.S.).

1883 G. W. Peck Mirth for Million 325 ‘You are pretty rough on the old man..after he has..given you nice presents.’ ‘Nice presents nothin. All I got was a {oqq}Come to Jesus{cqq} Christmas card.’ 1888 [see nope adv.]. 1899 A. Nicholas Idyl of Wabash 175 ‘My account—nothing!’ was her scornful ejaculation. 1899 B. Tarkington Gentleman from Indiana i. 10 ‘But you only wait—’ The editor smiled sadly. ‘Wait nothing. Don't threaten, man.’ 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights xi. 288 Stop nothing! Federal injunction won't do it. 1922 M. B. Houston Witch-man xviii. 238 ‘He could have found it, of course.’..‘Found it, nothing. I saw other things he'd taken.’ 1925 Wodehouse Sam the Sudden xiii. 93 ‘Two million smackers it's going to get him,’ retorted Dolly. ‘Two million smackers nothing! The stuff's hidden in a place where he'd never think of looking in two million years.’ 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1968) ii. 43 ‘How about the spooks?’.. ‘Spooks nothing.’ 1966 A. E. Lindop I start Counting xxii. 275 Grandad said, poor little mite nothing. The man that gave her a lift told the police she'd done her best to seduce him. 1969 R. Rendell Best Man to Die xii. 117 ‘Did you wait for him?’ ‘Wait, nothing!’ said Cullam hotly. ‘Why would I?’ 1972 D. Lees Zodiac 46 ‘Francs?’ ‘Francs nothing—pounds.’ 1974 T. Barling Shooter Man iii. 23 ‘It just slipped out.’ ‘Slipped nothing. You couldn't resist.’

  g. as slick as nothing at all: very promptly or quickly, ‘in the twinkling of an eye’. rare.

1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xl. 410 Done it just as slick as nothing at all.

  h. with (or having) nothing on, wearing no clothes, undressed, naked.

1719 Defoe Robinson Crusoe 62, I stripp'd..having nothing on but a Chequer'd Shirt, and a Pair of Linnen Drawers. 1908 Kipling Let. in C. E. Carrington Rudyard Kipling (1955) xvi. 399, I cannot help blushing when I am rung-up by women—with nothing on but spectacles and a bath-towel. 1971 E. Paul Reluctant Cloak & Dagger Man xi. 137 We always swam here with nothing on.

  i. nothing doing: see do v. 34 c.
  j. like nothing on earth: strange, ugly, wretched, etc., in a superlative degree.

1923 A. Christie Murder on Links xxvi. 286 She looked like nothing on God's earth. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 117 To look or feel like nothing on earth (very bad). 1974 M. G. Eberhart Danger Money (1975) iv. 39 ‘What's he like?’ ‘Nothing on earth... I wouldn't trust him with a nickel.’

  k. there is nothing (much) in it: there is no important feature of interest or value in something; there is no significant difference between two things, etc.

1927 Observer 18 Dec. 19/3 The first round there was nothing much in it. In the second round Angus..punched Mansfield round the ring. 1950 Partridge Dict. Clichés (ed. 4) 156 Nothing in it, esp., there's nothing{ddd}(there is no appreciable—or important—difference): c. 20.

  l. to have nothing on (someone): to be no match for (someone). See have v. 14 h.
  2. a. With dependent genitive: No part, share, etc., of some thing (or person).

c 1000 in Assmann Ags. Hom. (1889) xviii. 48 Þa ne ᵹefredde he naþinc þæs brynes for þam miclan luste. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1096, Se wæs Papa ᵹehaten þeah þe he þæs setles naþing næfde on Rome. a 1200 Moral Ode 98 in O.E. Hom. I. 165 Nabbeð hi naþing forȝeten of al þet ho [ere] iseȝen. a 1300 Cursor M. 2543 O prai wald abram nathing haue. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiv. (Pelagia) 23 Wantande nathing of bewte, þat in a woman suld fundyn be. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13215 Of Nigromansy ynogh nothing hom lakked. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 31 Ye nothyng haue appayred of the imperyall maiesttee. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. vii. 6 Finding nothyng of that they sought for. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 399 Nothing of him that doth fade. 1671 Milton Samson 374 Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me But justly. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 43 ¶8 We were in nothing of the Secret. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 172, I..began..with nothing; that is to say, I had nothing of stock. 1768 Goldsm. in Boswell, Johnson..has nothing of the bear but his skin. 1872 Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vi. (1906) 137 There was no atmosphere in it, nothing of the light that never was.

  b. Const. of with adjective. Now rare.
  Prob. after F. rien de (nouveau, etc.).

1645 Chas. I Wks. (1662) 316, I..have nothing of new to direct you in. 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. 11 That there might be nothing of deficient as to our Institution. a 1700 Dryden (J.), Yet had his aspect nothing of severe. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv., Barrow & Newton Wks. 1853 I. 482/2 Nothing of excellent is to be done by felicity. 1870 Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 12 Nothing of common is there, nothing of theatrical.

  3. a. Denoting comparative insignificance or unimportance: A thing (or person) not worth reckoning, considering, or mentioning.

1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiii. 16 Who euere shal swere by the temple of God, no thing is [1388 it is no thing]. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 340 For who that is of man no king, The remenant is as no thing. c 1500 Melusine 120 For if..I were taken of our enmyes, of my lyf is nothing. a 1548 Hall Chron., K. Hen. VIII 230 b, Y⊇ same night..fel a smal raine, nothyng to speak of. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 123 So, that skill in the Weapon is nothing, without Sack. 1611 ― Wint. T. iv. ii. 44 A man (they say) that from very nothing..is growne into an vnspeakable estate. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 88 It was nothing to see euery day foure or fiue men killed in the streetes. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 274 We..falsely imagine we are Something when in Truth we are Nothing. 1837 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 3) I. iii. 31 Knowledge is nothing compared with doing. 1883 Howells Woman's Reason xii, He would be nothing without her.

  † b. In phr. thing, man, etc., of nothing. Obs.
  Prob. after F. homme, etc., de rien, or L. nihilī.

1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xv. 89 The daunger that wee bee scaped out of seemeth to be a thing of nothing. 1591 Savile Tacitus, Hist. i. 35 Vitellius, a man of nothing,..drunck at noone-day and heauy with surfet. a 1628 Preston Breastpl. Love, Effect. Faith (1631) 145 Looke upon them as trifles, as matters of nothing.

  c. As adj. in trivial use: of no account, insignificant, meaningless, insipid, dull; (of a dress, etc.) discreet, elegantly unobtrusive.

1961 Time (Atlantic ed.) 18 Aug. 60 All these beautiful people with nothing faces. 1964 ‘E. McBain’ Axe vi. 118 This is a nothing game, you dig? A buck, two bucks a time, that's all. 1965 Vogue Aug. 43/2 Little ‘nothing’ sweaters and shirts for wearing with suits. 1967 W. Murray Sweet Ride iv. 46 It was a nothing place, just a few booths and a counter. 1969 P. Kavanagh Such Men are Dangerous (1971) ii. 30 The characters..were all hung up on trivia, little nothing problems in their careers and marriages. 1971 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 23 May 53/1 A girl in one of those ‘nothing’ dresses with the Quant signature written all over it. 1972 P. Dickinson Lizard in Cup vi. 97 It's a nothing thing, like I said... But drugs aren't a nothing thing, no.

  4. Arith. That which is not any number, and possesses neither quantity nor value; the figure or character representing this; nought. Also fig.

c 1425 Crafte of Nombryng (1897) 25 Multiplye 2 be a 0, it wol be nothyng. [1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 213 Now thou art an O without a figure, I am better then thou art now, I am a Foole, thou art nothing.] 1743 Emerson Fluxions 6 Consequently o will be nothing, and therefore all the Terms wherein it is found will be nothing. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. xxii. 236 The equation between the two periods at which it is successively nothing. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. (1852) 486 The whole would be like multiplying nothing by nothing—the result would still be nothing.

  5. a. That which is non-existent. Also personified.
  to dance on nothing: see dance v. 3 b.

1535 Coverdale Job xxvi. 7 He stretcheth out y⊇ north ouer the emptie, & hangeth y⊇ earth vpon nothinge. 1587 Golding De Mornay ii. (1592) 23 God, to shew vs that he made all of nothing, hath left a certeine inclination in his Creatures, whereby they tend naturally to nothing. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Dotage i, Embroider'd lyes, nothing between two dishes; These are the pleasures here. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. ii. 52 Mere nothing being never able to produce anything at all. 1701 Norris Ideal World i. ii. 74, I thought it had been a..maxim all the world over, that nothing could have no properties or relations. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 332 It is here that your modern legislators have gone deep into the negative series, and sunk even below their own nothing. 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 120 An emissary of the primeval Nothing. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. iv. §53 (1875) 177 Nothing cannot become an object of consciousness.

pers. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche vii. ccxcviii, A mortal Life is but an handsom fiction Nothing well-drest, a flattering Contradiction. 1656 Cowley Pindar. Odes, Life & Fame i, Oh Life, thou Nothings younger Brother! a 1708 Beveridge Priv. Th. i. (1730) 73 It is as easy for Him to..send me back into my mother Nothing.

  b. Denoting extinction or destruction.

1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 315 Dem. No Die, but an ace for him; for he is but one. Lis. Less then an ace man. For he is dead, he is nothing. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 208 So lookes the chafed Lyon Vpon the daring Huntsman that has gall'd him: Then makes him nothing. 1812 Byron And thou art dead ii, To me there needs no stone to tell, 'Tis Nothing that I loved so well.

  c. to nothing, denoting the final point, stage, or state of the process of destruction, dissolution, etc.

1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 22 Which made euery man suppose that after the expence of much mony, it would vanish to nothing. 1655 M. Casaubon Enthus. iii. (1656) 169 Through continuall contemplation..having reduced his body to almost nothing. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 389 Much instrument of war Long in preparing, soon to nothing brought. 1731–8 Swift Pol. Conversat. Introd. 3 The Conversation falls and drops to nothing. 1774 Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 35 The vowel-sound..is nearly of the same kind, but degenerated to almost nothing. 1875 Kinglake Crimea vi. xii. V. 248 The parapet..dwarfed down to nothing. 1887 Morris Odyss. xii. 46 Dead men rotting to nothing.

  6. With a and pl. a. A non-existent, a comparatively insignificant or worthless, thing; a trifling event.

1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 81 To heare my Nothings monster'd. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies Concl. 449 Seeking for that, which if they had found, were but a nothing of a nothing in respect of true beatitude. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 181 A Bundle of Nonsensical Fortuitous Atoms conjoined into a Hodg-Podge of confused Nothings. 1723 Swift Stella at Woodpark Wks. 1751 X. 47 A Supper worthy of herself, Five Nothings in five Plates of Delph. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia vii. ix, She then proceeded..to relate the little nothings that had passed since the winter. 1821 Shelley Adonais xxxix, 'Tis we, who..strike with our spirit's knife Invulnerable nothings. 1850 Monckton Milnes in Life (1891) I. x. 444 The little nothings of occupied life leave a man no time for his duty. 1898 Henley Lond. Types, Hawker, Hawking in either hand Some artful nothing made of twine and tin.

  b. A trivial or trifling remark.

1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. i. 95 Thus he his speciall nothing euer prologues. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 320 Mistresses that must have each day two or three Houres spent in speaking to them Nothings. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 326 Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze th' unlearn'd. 1797 Lamb Let. to Coleridge in Final Mem. iii. 25 You are very good to submit to be pleased with reading my nothings. 1824 Byron Juan xv. lxxviii, To his gay nothings, nothing was replied. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. 181 A few nothings had passed between them as to the weather.

  c. A person of no note; a nobody.

1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. iv. 135 That harsh, noble, simple nothing: That Cloten. 1681–4 J. Scott Chr. Life 81 In the presence of God we shall be Nothings. 17.. Ramsay To Duncan Forbes x, Strutting naethings are despis'd. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. iv, The nameless nothings that are always lounging about the country mansions of the great. 1879 Froude Cæsar xii. 163 Metellus and..Afranius, who had been chosen consuls for the year 60, were mere nothings.

  d. a new nothing, a worthless novelty. Now dial. (see quot. 1854).

1641 Wilkins Mercury Pref. (1707) 5 Fresh Heresies (New⁓nothings) still appear. 1653 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year Ep. Ded., No man ought to be offended, that Sermons are not like curious Inquiries after New-nothings, but pursuances of Old Truths. 1820 T. L. Peacock Misc. Wks. 1875 III. 330 Commonplace, which at length becomes thoroughly wearisome, even to the most indefatigable readers of the newest new nothings. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. II. 52 If you'll be good children, I'll bring you all a new⁓nothing to hang on your sleeves, i.e. nothing at all.

  e. no nothing, nothing at all. colloq.

1835 J. F. Cooper Monikins III. iv. 93 In this happy land, there was no registration, no passports, ‘no nothin’—as Mr. Poke pointedly expressed it. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 516/2 There is no store, no post-office, no sidewalked street,—no nothing. 1905 Kipling Actions & Reactions (1909) 8 ‘No roads, no nothing!’ said Sophie. 1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. ix. 392 There may not be no nothing. 1968 Washington Post 21 Sept. A. 12/1 His [sc. Wallace's] appeal is to racial animosity, no-nothing policies.

  † 7. = nothingness. Obs. rare.

1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 626 No hearing, no feeling, but my Sirs Song, and admiring the Nothing of it. 1630 S. Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. i. xxxvii. (1670) 121 To make man feel his own evil, his infirmity, his nothing. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. (1756) 122 He will experimentally find the emptiness of all things, and the nothing of what is past.

  II. In various collocations and phrases.
  nothing less, see less a. 7 b and adv. 3. almost nothing, see almost adv. 3. neck or nothing, see neck n.¹ 8.
  8. Followed by a limiting particle. a. nothing else (but or than): see else adv. 1.

a 1300 Cursor M. 13471 Þis he said..To fand him and nathing elles. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 198 Sche wolde him nothing elles sein Bot of her name. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxix. 206 And they had neuer done nothynge els, I was bounde to rewarde theym. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 123 b, In suche also as concerned religion and nothyng els. 1653 Milton Ps. iv. 12 Things false and vain and nothing else but lies? 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans I. 123 Have you nothing else to do but cleaning the books? a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 187 The followers of Newton say, that this power is nothing else but that of attraction. 1804–6 Syd. Smith Mor. Philos. (1850) 172 If I can point out the cause.., I see nothing else which I have to do. 1869 Martineau Ess. II. 42 Sin is nothing else than moral evil.

  b. nothing but (or nothing except): see but conj. 4 b.

c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 94 Love we God..and drede we noo þing but hym. c 1400 Sir Perc. 714 He had nothynge to bere But his sadille and his gere. a 1533 Frith Disput. Purgat. (1829) 102 That their words are nothing but even their own imagination. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 529 Beastes thinke of nothing but that which they beholde. 1635 Heylin Sabbath i. (1636) 77 Having almost nothing but what they borrowed of the Egyptians. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. i. i. 3 Nothing but Mens inbred fondnesse for the Object it converses with. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 161 ¶7 The Prizes were generally nothing but a Crown of Cypress or Parsley. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 175 ¶2 Nothing but the desert or the cell can exclude it from notice. c 1838 W. H. Murray in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1973) IV. 160 Mark me: no amendments, no conferences—I'll have ‘the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill’. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 141 It had been fruitful of nothing but disputes. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 701/2 Witnesses are sworn: ‘The evidence you shall give..shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So’, &c. 1886 Froude Oceana 140 When doing nothing except wandering in the shade of the wood. 1934 J. G. Brandon One-Minute Murder iv. 32 As far as that poor devil's concerned..it's accident and nothing but. 1973 Black World June 30 A poet ain't nothin' but a bird.

ellipt. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. v. 234 This peace is nothing, but to rust Iron, encrease Taylors [etc.].

  (b) Also used to typify theorizing which attempts to reduce, simplify, or explain concepts in such a way that they seem to accord with the theory propounded; so the nothing-but; also nothing-but-ism, nothing-buttery.

1923 R. H. Thouless Introd. Psychol. Relig. x. 129 The essential requirement of this theory is that it should be shown that religion contains nothing but elements of this kind, and this is exactly what Mr Schroeder makes no attempt at all to prove. 1935 Mind XLIV. 91 Jung's formulation..is the antithesis of ‘nothing-but’-ism. 1937 A. Huxley Ends & Means xiv. 257 All who advance theories of mind containing the word ‘nothing but’, tend to involve themselves in this kind of contradiction. The very fact that they formulate theories which they believe to have general validity..constitutes in itself a sufficient denial of the validity of ‘nothing-but’ judgments concerning the nature of the mind. 1951 M. Lowry Let. 25 Aug. (1967) 252 You might call it pseudo-Freud and the philosophy of the ‘nothingbut’. 1961 Mind LXX. 100 There is much else in the literary idiom of nature-philosophy: nothing-buttery, for example, always part of the minor symptomatology of the bogus. ‘Love is..nothing more, and nothing less, than [etc.]’.

  c. After did or done, formerly followed by pa. tense or pa. pple., now usually by infinitive.

[c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 682, I wol hym visite, Haue I no thyng but rested me a lite.] 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 61 The doulphyn dyd nothyng, nyȝt ne day, but admoneshed hys doughter. 1512 Helyas in Thoms Prose Rom. (1827) 76, vi. children, to whome they did nothing but tooke away theyr chaines. 1554–5 Ridley Wks. (Parker Soc.) 14, I haue..done nothing else but digged a pit. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 542 If I had done nothing else herein but trifled. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 165 We did nothing but ascend.

  d. one has, or there is, nothing for it but, denoting absence of any alternative course. (Cf. for prep. 13 c.)

1742 Richardson Pamela III. 78 So that between one and t'other, a poor Girl has nothing for it, but a few Weeks Courtship. 1792 Elvina I. 74 They were prepared to banter me, so I had nothing for it but downright impudence. 1843 F. E. Paget Pageant 121 There was nothing for it but to submit with a good grace. 1875 Ruskin Fors Clav. lv. 196 Hansli had nothing for it but to obey.

  e. nothing, if not.., above everything.

1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 120 O, gentle Lady, do not put me too't, For I am nothing, if not Criticall. 1876 J. Parker Paracl. i. ii. 175 Christianity is nothing, if not spiritual. 1881 H. James Portr. Lady xxxv, He was never precipitate; he was nothing if not discreet.

  9. for nothing: † a. By no means; on no account; for no consideration. Obs.

c 1275 Lay. 12419 He ne mihte for noþing Melga i-finde. a 1300 Cursor M. 11149 Of hir ne wald he for nathing, Lai of hordome mistruing. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1853 Lucrece, Y wol not haue noo forgyft for no-thinge. c 1420 Palladius on Husb. xii. 275 They growe vnnethe in sad lond or rubrik, And for no thing the cley [they] may not vse. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 2562 And it be so,..thanne wolde j that ȝe hym slowen for non thing. 1581 Marbeck Bk. Notes 258 But there present he would not bee for nothing.

  b. In vain, to no purpose.

1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 80 Leste they shoulde appeere to have commen thyther for nothyng. 1872 Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vi. (1906) 130 That old Lawgiver wasn't learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians for nothing.

  c. For no reason; causelessly.

1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 130 Will you be bound for nothing? 1600 ― A.Y.L. iv. i. 154, I will weepe for nothing, like Diana in the Fountaine. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. viii. 169 He who will be angry for any thing, will be angry for nothing.

  d. Without payment or cost; free, gratuitously.

1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 154 A braue kingdome.., Where I shall haue my Musicke for nothing. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 132 Provisions in these parts, are so plentiful, that the Inhabitants..sell them in a manner for nothing. 1693 Dryden Disc. Satire Ess. (ed. Ker) II. 90 To do any thing for nothing, was not his Maxim. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews i. xv, Loving the public well enough to give them a sermon or a dose of physic for nothing. 1886 D. C. Murray Cynic Fortune xii, There was not a woman of them who would not have done his clear-starching for nothing.

  10. nothing to: a. Of no consequence to one.

1584 Cogan Haven Health l. (1636) 64 What Rusticks doe, or may doe without hinderance of their health, is nothing to Students. 1686 tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 90 The Townsmen made answer, 'twas nothing to them if there were such a Famine in the City. 1885 ‘M. Rutherford’ M. Rutherford's Deliverance iv. 65 She had learned that she was nothing specially to him. 1947 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh I. 79 He's nothing to you—or to me, either. Ibid. II. 105 The good old Cause means nothing to you any more.

  b. Insignificant or worthless compared to some other person or thing.

1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 165 All I can is nothing, To her, whose worth, make other worthies nothing. 1639 W. C. Italian Convert Ep. Ded. 3 But all this is nothing to that which they both suffered for their conscience. 1697 R. Collier Ess. i. (1703) 169 A new way of extracting the spirit of happiness; the Chymistry of a bee is nothing to it. 1793 Gouv. Morris Sparks' Life & Writ. (1832) I. 415 Our old Congress was nothing to this Convention. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 77 Self is an unpleasant object for study. Anatomy is nothing to it.

  c. there's nothing to it: it is very easy to do; there is no difficulty involved.

1934 E. O'Neill Ah, Wilderness! I. 21 There (with a grin). I know there's nothing to it, anyway. 1951 H. Wouk Caine Mutiny viii. 77 There's nothing to it, really, except making damn sure none of your watch-standers sit down or fall asleep standing up. 1953 F. Stark Coast of Incense iv. 232, I am puzzled when asked what makes my style, for there is nothing to it except a natural ear for cadence and the wish to get the meaning right. 1963 ‘S. Woods’ Taste of Fears i. 13 ‘There's nothing to it if you're quick, or so I'm told,’ he added. 1971 D. Eden Afternoon Walk vii. 83 ‘You used to automatic drive?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then there's nothing to it.’ 1974 Country Life 14 Feb. 322/1, I mentioned that I was spending the following night at a Japanese inn. He assured me that there was nothing to it.

  11. to make nothing of: a. To make light of.
  Usually with gerund; for the earlier const. with infinitive, see make v.¹ 51 c.

1632 Sherwood, To make nothing of, desestimer. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 57 ¶3 She..makes nothing of leaping over a Six-bar Gate. 1821 Examiner 732/2 He made nothing of eating burning coals. 1838 S. Parker Explor. Tour (1846) 28 The river makes nothing of washing away banks and islands. 1850 W. Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. vi. (1859) 80 This forced trial of hydropathy is, indeed, so common an occurrence that whalemen make nothing of it.

  b. (With can.) To be unable to accomplish anything; to fail to comprehend or solve.

1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 229 They boarded her again the third time, but could make nothing on't. 1852 Froude Ess., Eng. Forgotten Worthies (1906) 67 They could make nothing..of his odd ironical answers. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. xii, Bella could make nothing of it but that John was in the right.

  12. to come to nothing: to have no effect or result; to break down, fail.

1568 Grafton Chron. II. 233 This voyage..came to nothing. 1625 K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis v. x. (1636) 645 Her promises came to nothing. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 203 All my Fancies and Schemes came to nothing. 1796–7 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. v. (1813) 15 It may all come to nothing. 1814 ― Mansf. Park (1847) 172 His falling in love with Julia had come to nothing.

  13. to have nothing to do with (a thing or person): see do v. 33 d. Also ellipt.

1605 Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 37 Away, I haue nothing to do with thee. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iv. (1841) I. 86 I'll have nothing to do with it. 1830 Fraser's Mag. I. 203 It has nothing to do with the purpose. 1835 F. W. Faber Lett. (1869) 39 God caters for tomorrow; we have nothing to do with it. 1892 Punch 16 Jan. 41/2 ‘A Wife's Secret’ (nothing to do with the old play of that name).

  14. a. all to nothing: to the fullest extent.

1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 53 And has carry'd his Point all to nothing, as the Racing Gentlemen say. 1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) I. 161 Why a voyage to India was all to nothing a better venture than marriage. a 1818 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. (1834) 67 The most beautiful tree, or, rather, group of trees, all to nothing, is the Bamboo.

  b. With beat. (Also simply to nothing.)

1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 88 Christians..beat us all to nothing in honour and humanity. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 263 If the Gods had made you poetical I should have beat Swift's Sacharissa all to nothing. 1819 Metropolis I. 173 Our Opera..and our balls at Almack's beat them to nothing.

  15. nothing off (see quot. 1846). Naut.

1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. s.v. Near, Nothing off! is an order not to let her fall off from the wind. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 41 What is the meaning of ‘nothing off’? Keeping the ship close to the wind without shaking the sails.

  16. nothing to write (or cable, wire) home about, denoting something that is unworthy of comment, unremarkable or mediocre. slang (orig. Forces').

1917 W. Muir Observations of Orderly 227 Miserable conditions.., bad accommodation, doubtful food..these, in the lingo of our now much-travelled and stoical troops, are ‘nothing to write home about’. 1937 Auden & MacNeice Lett. from Iceland iv. 38 Fare from Hull to any⁓where in Iceland, {pstlg}4 10s. plus 5 kr. a day for food. The latter is nothing to write home about but eatable. 1942 Berrey & Van Den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang i. 33 Fair to middling,..nothing to..shout about, nothing to wire or write home about.

  III. attrib. and Comb.
  17. a. Attrib., as nothing-case, nothing-creature, nothing-gift.

1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. vi. 86 That nothing-guift of differing Multitudes. 1647 Jessey (title), The Exceeding Riches of Grace Advanced by the Spirit of Grace, in an Empty Nothing Creature. 1700 C. Nesse Antid. Armin. (1827) 107 Unconverted men are nothing-creatures. 1847 Alb. Smith Stuck-up People (ed. 4) 22 Cups, and saucers, and miniatures; inkstands,..and papier-mâché nothing-cases.

  b. Objective, as nothing-do, nothing-doing, nothing-saying, etc.

1629 T. Adams Barren Tree Wks. 966 What innumerable Swarmes of nothing-does beleaguer this Citie! 1633 ― Exp. 2 Peter ii. 10. 729 Droves of beggars, profest cyphers, nothing-does that swarme about this Citie. 1667 Denham Direct. Paint. iv. iii. 2 The mad shout Of a poor nothing-understanding Rout. 1773 A. Grant Lett. fr. Mts. (1807) I. v. 47 The incursions of these nothing-doing people. 1811 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) II. 83 His usual nothing-meaning, harmless, heartless civility. a 1817 ― Persuasion (1818) IV. viii. 160 After a period of nothing-saying amongst the party.

  c. In various phrases used attributively, or as the basis of a noun or adjective.

1778 Learning at a Loss I. 79 That Kind of Ennuyant Nothing-to-do-ishness which is worse than all the Rest. 1794 Coleridge Lett. (1895) 72 Gloucester is a nothing-to-be-said-about town. 1812 Colman Br. Grins, Two Parsons lxxxv, These practical, nothing-so-easy jokers. 1828 Lights & Shades I. 210 Let him be bound apprentice to a nothing-to-do man. 1878 H. Wright Mental Trav. 143 An abyss of commonplace or nothing-in-lifeism. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms 126 One of those nothing-particular-looking old chaps. 1906 All-Story Mag. (U.S.) Aug. 593/1 The nothing-doingness of things in general outside the office. 1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 16 A formless lumpish, nothing-in-particular. 1924 D. H. Lawrence England, My England 98 They passed an agreeable, casual, nothing-in-particular evening.

  B. adv. Not at all, in no way.
  1. a. Qualifying a verb.

α a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070, Þa munecas..beaden heom grið, ac hi na rohten na þing. c 1205 Lay. 22048 Þat no bið he for þan watere naððing idracched. a 1300 Cursor M. 12245 Na thinc can i him discreue, For sagh i neuer nan suilk mi liue. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 117 To prise hym forthir to pray, It helpis na thing. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 561 Thow trowis nathing thir taillis that I am telland. 1567 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 573 The proffeitt quhilk na thing belangit to thame. a 1585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 289 Quhilk profitis nathing at the lenth.

β 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 982 Vor þing þat woneþ & noþing wexþ, sone it worþ ido. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 5154 (Kölbing), His scheld perced Gvinbating, Ac his strong hauberk no þing. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 214 Hit is no þyng for loue thei labour þus faste. c 1440 Alph. Tales 455 All way þai war nothyng lukid after. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour C ij, Hir lord her husbond was no thing plesid that she went so gladly. a 1533 Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B ij, I praise nothyng the knowlege of myne auncesters. 1597 T. Morley Introd. Mus. 95 You blamed my beginning, yet haue you altred it nothing. 1615 A. Stafford Heavenly Dog 68 Though this be the most terrible of deaths..yet it shall nothing appale me. 1666 M. M. Solomon's Prescr. 83 Perhaps thou art one that think'st thyself safe, and that this nothing belongs to thee. 1702 English Theophrastus 164 Naked lessons and precepts have nothing the force that Images and Parables have upon our minds. 1788 Priestley Lect. Hist. v. lxii. 307 An aristocracy however differs nothing from a despotism. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv., Marvel & Bp. Parker Wks. 1853 II. 107/1 They often infect those who ailed nothing. 1867 Duke of Argyll Reign of Law ii. (1871) 58 It helps us nothing in such a difficulty, to say that [etc.].

  † b. to make nothing, not to pertain or be of consequence to, not to tell for or against (a person or thing).
  After L. nihil facere or F. ne..faire rien.

1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. vi. (1895) 205 It maketh nothing to thys matter, whether yow saye that sickenes is a griefe, or that in sickenes is griefe. 1560 J. Daus Sleidane's Comm. 424 b, That maketh nothing for the matter saith he, for he beareth witnes of him self. 1687 Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., It makes nothing against me, cela ne fait rien contre moi. 1690 Locke Hum. Underst. i. iii. §3 But this makes nothing for Innate Characters on the Mind. 1727 Boyer Eng.-Fr. Dict. s.v. Make, It makes nothing to me,..Cela..ne me regarde point.

  2. a. Qualifying an adj. or adv. Now arch.

a 1050 Wærferth's Gregory's Dial. 114 Wyrc þin worc, & ne beo þu nan þing sari. a 1290 St. Dunstan 122 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 23 Hit ne þhouhte him no-þing long. 1315 Shoreham i. 891 Myd sucher sorȝe schryfte, man, Wel stylle, and no þyng loude. ? 1370 Robt. Cicyle 56 The crowne semyth the no thyng welle. c 1450 Merlin 18 She is nothynge gilty. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 1981 Now of hyr goyng I am nothyng glad. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. ix. 163 For she was horned and no thynge cleere. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. vii. 8 [It] is nothing rough in handling. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 495 The Wooll..is nothing inferiour to that of..Spaine. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1039 Her hand he seis'd, and to a shadie bank..He led her nothing loath. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. iv, She loved to see her maids obey, Yet nothing stern was she in cell. 1867 Myers St. Paul (1898) 21 Nothing disdainful of the Virgin's womb.

  b. With adjs. or advs. preceded by so.

a 1466 Paston Lett. II. 264 For I wys she ys no thyng so sadde as I wold she wer. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 153 b, Theyr syght is duske or dymme, & nothynge so clere as is the syght of the contemplatyue persone. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 78 My calamities seeme nothing so many in comparison of your great miseries. 1620 E. Blount Horæ Subs. 317 A passion that can be mastered, is nothing so dangerous as one that cannot. 1644 Evelyn Diary 24 Sept., Some bathes of medicinal waters,..but nothing so neately wall'd & adorn'd as ours in Som'erset⁓shire. 1712 Hearne Collect. III. 413 He was nothing so learned and judicious a Man as he is represented to have been. 1826 E. Irving Babylon iii. I. 169 The insight which was given to Daniel..was nothing so minute and particular as that which was given to the apostle John.

  c. Followed by the and a comparative.

1547 Hooper Declar. Christ x. Wks. (Parker Soc.) 76 An infidel may receive the external sign of baptism and yet no Christian man nothing the rather. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 116 So shall the example be the more familiar, and your paines nothing the greater. 1592 Greene Conny Catch. To Young Gentl., I have eaten Spanishe Mirabolanes, and yet am nothing the more metamorphosed. a 1662 Heylin Laud (1671) 129 More recent were the Puritans, but nothing the less dangerous. 1829 Southey Sir T. More (1831) II. 18 The bird was nothing the worse for what it had undergone.

  3. a. nothing like, in various uses. Cf. like a. 2.

c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3023 Hir woys was..nothyng lyke a mannys voise in soun. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. 133 Not of that effycacyte as is spoken of, nor nothing like. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 43 b, Not so much credit to be given unto them, nothing like, as to the scripture. 1782 E. N. Blower G. Bateman III. 111 [She sits her horse] nothing like so well as you used to do. 1815 Zeluca I. 194 Nothing like so excellent as your epigrammatic translation. 1868 Thirlwall Lett. (1881) II. 130 Our frost..seems to have been nothing like so severe as it has been in France or Italy.

  b. nothing near. Cf. near adv. 6.

1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. (1586) i. 5 b, Your courteous good will maketh you go beyond the trueth,..which commeth nothing neere to that you spake of. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ezek. xlviii. Comm., The terrestrial citie of Jerusalem..was nothing nere so large. 1642 Rogers Naaman 59 This was no great state (nothing neere Naamans). 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 25 Not much inferior to the other, but nothing near so large. a 1797 Burke (Webster), The influence of reason in producing our passions is nothing near so extensive as is commonly believed.

  c. nothing so, in various uses.

1515 Barclay Egloges ii. (1570) B iv b/2 But many fooles thinke it is nothing so. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 275 As if Democritus had bene outragious indeede: who was nothing so. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 139 In the spring⁓time it is nothing so. 1642 Jer. Taylor God's Judgem. i. xxiii. 91 When some replyed, That the soules of men were immortall..hee..swore, that he thought it nothing so. 1701 Grew Cosmol. Sacra iv. iv. 189 Some may think of Jael that..she was no better than a Trapanning Hussy. But nothing so. 1874 Lowell Agassiz iv. ii, Our social monotone of level days, Might make our best seem banishment; But it was nothing so.

  4. nothing worth, of no value. Now rare.
  Perh. partly an inversion of worth nothing.

1535 Coverdale Job xxiv. 25 Who wil then reproue me as a lyar, & saye y{supt} my wordes are nothinge worth? 1587 Golding De Mornay xviii. 288 Who knoweth not that thing to be nothing worth, that is given for nought? 1619 R. Weste Bk. of Demeanor 116 in Babees Bk. 295 To belch or bulch..Commendeth manners to be base, most foule and nothing worth. 1654 Fuller Triana ii. (1664) 180 Mustard is nothing worth unless it bite. 1727 Mather Yng. Man's Comp. 70 Some Rich Men over-valued, tho' nothing worth. 1833 Coleridge Table-t. 16 Feb., My Devil was to be, like Goethe's, the universal humorist, who should make all things vain and nothing worth. 1833 Tennyson Two Voices 331 A life of nothings, nothing-worth.

absol. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Vn poltron, a nothing worth, a slouthfull person.

  Hence ˈnothing v., to reduce to nothing. ˈnothingist, a nihilist. ˈnothingizing, reduction to nothing, obliteration. ˈnothingless a., insignificant; non-existent. ˈnothingly n., a cipher; a., of no value or effect. nothingˈology, the study or science of nothing. nothingˈousian (see quot.). ˈnothingy a., of no worth or importance.

1652 Benlowes Theoph. vii. xv, Their Spiritual Natures would be *nothing'd quite.

1648 W. Browne tr. Le Foy's Polexander II. 339 'Tis an abasement; (Madam) 'tis an humiliation; 'Tis such a prodigious *nothinging of your selfe.

1890 Daily News 17 Jan. 4/8 Thus Bazaroff becomes the first ‘Nihilist’ or ‘*Nothingist’.

c 1830 Coleridge in Blackw. Mag. Jan. (1882) 111 It is a discontinuing in descent, and a *nothingising of the female.

1822 M. W. Shelley Let. 20 Dec., I have nothing else except my *nothingless self to talk about. 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith v. i. 278 The solar system would sink into a nothingless relation to us.

1814 F. Burney Wanderer i. v, That *nothingly, Ireton, has nearly shrugged his shoulders out of joint. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 158 How vain, how nothingly is the groaning and struggling, and the Truth and the Virtue of the world!

1803 Fessenden Terrible Tract. i. (ed. 2) 18 note, Sublime discoveries with abstruse sciences of insect-ology, mite-ology and *nothing⁓ology. 1811 Spirit Public Jrnls. XV. 325 What new prospects arise for adventurers in nothingology.

1791 in Parr Wks. (1828) VII. 93 You are a Parousian,..and my clergy are *Nothingousians, for they have no notion at all about the matter.

1801 Earl Malmesbury Diaries & Corr. IV. 36 It would be very strange if such *nothingy men were to stand in the way of so great a measure. 1834 Greville Mem. (1875) III. xxii. 55 Parliament had opened the day before, with a long nothingy (a word I have coined) speech from the throne.

Oxford English Dictionary