--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian…" description: "\"“Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian origins: The Indian word for zero was sunya, meaning “empty,” which the Arabs turned into sifr. Western schola..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg" --- # Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian origins: The… ![“Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian origins: The Indian word for zero was sunya, meaning “empty,” which the Arabs turned into sifr. Western scholars Latinized this into zephirus, the root of our zero.” quote by Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg) > ““Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian origins: The Indian word for zero was sunya, meaning “empty,” which the Arabs turned into sifr. Western scholars Latinized this into zephirus, the root of our zero.”” [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The term “zero” originated from the Indian word “sunya” meaning empty, which passed through Arabic and Latin before becoming modern “zero”. **In simple terms:** Zero’s name traveled from India through Arabic to Latin. Key Takeaway Recognize how language evolves across cultures. Themes history language mathematics Mood curious reflective Type informational educational When to use this quote - education - finance - technology - communication Key Concepts etymology cross‑cultural transmission Questions to Reflect On - How does understanding a word’s origin change your view of its concept? - What other everyday terms have similar journeys? A Different Perspective The story focuses on linguistic roots, not mathematical significance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Indian Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indian-word-3660452/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Root Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/root-zero-3660453/) [Word Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-zero-3660450/) [Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zero/) [Zero Indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zero-indian-3660451/) ## Related quotes > [Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skip-bertman/starkville-is-an-indian-word-for-trailer-park/) [Skip Bertman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skip-bertman/) > [Vegetarian: Indian word for lousy hunter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/vegetarian-indian-word-for-lousy-hunter/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [Vegetarian: An indian word for lousy hunter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/vegetarian-an-indian-word-for-lousy-hunter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning lousy hunter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/vegetarian-that-s-an-old-indian-word-meaning-lousy-hunter/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [“Where numbers only represent real things, you don’t need a number to express the absence of something. It is an abstract concept and only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/where-numbers-only-represent-real-things-you-don-t-need-a-number-to/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [I was very good at history, often scoring 99 out of 100, whereas in mathematics, I usually scored zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamsalekha/i-was-very-good-at-history-often-scoring-99-out-of-100-whereas-in/) [Hamsalekha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamsalekha/) > [“People who don’t love math always accuse mathematicians of trying to make math complicated,” Dr. Li had said. “But anyone who does love math…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/people-who-don-t-love-math-always-accuse-mathematicians-of-trying-to/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [I think we should have basically the same tax policy that Germany, Japan, the U.K., everybody else has, which is a tax rate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-we-should-have-basically-the-same-tax-policy-that-germany/) [Jeffrey R. Immelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-immelt/) > [There is still zero empirical evidence that anthropogenic production of CO2 is making any measurable contribution to the world's present warming trend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-is-still-zero-empirical-evidence-that-anthropogenic-production/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [The game isn't over till the clock says zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-pierce/the-game-isn-t-over-till-the-clock-says-zero/) [Paul Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-pierce/) > [Creating a top team and being in a position to win the Tour de France will give me a nice feeling. But I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-alonso/creating-a-top-team-and-being-in-a-position-to-win-the-tour-de-france/) [Fernando Alonso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-alonso/) > [Samuelson spotted a mistake in Bacheliers work. Bachelier's model had failed to consider that stock prices cannot fall below zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/samuelson-spotted-a-mistake-in-bacheliers-work-bachelier-s-model-had/) [William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/) > [I really like female singers; I've got zero interest in working with male singers. Any male voice I need to do, I can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devin-townsend/i-really-like-female-singers-i-ve-got-zero-interest-in-working-with/) [Devin Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devin-townsend/) > [His fingertips slid down from my face, lightly stroking the line of my neck, down toward my shoulder. Everywhere he touched, a trail of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/his-fingertips-slid-down-from-my-face-lightly-stroking-the-line-of-my/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) ## More by Chris Anderson > [“7. Sooner or later you will compete with free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/7-sooner-or-later-you-will-compete-with-free/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“Where numbers only represent real things, you don’t need a number to express the absence of something. It is an abstract concept and only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/where-numbers-only-represent-real-things-you-don-t-need-a-number-to/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“4. You can make money from free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/4-you-can-make-money-from-free/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“Eastern mysticism embraced both the tangible and the intangible, through the yin and yang of duality. The god Shiva was both the creator and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/eastern-mysticism-embraced-both-the-tangible-and-the-intangible/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“So everything is an algorithm now. And just as every Google search uses its algorithms to produce a different result for each person searching,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/so-everything-is-an-algorithm-now-and-just-as-every-google-search/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“professional journalists who are seeing their jobs evaporate are typically those whose employers failed to find a new role in a world of abundant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/professional-journalists-who-are-seeing-their-jobs-evaporate-are/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“9. free makes other things more valuable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/9-free-makes-other-things-more-valuable/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“In the atoms economy, which is to say most of the stuff around us, things tend to get more expensive over time. But in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/in-the-atoms-economy-which-is-to-say-most-of-the-stuff-around-us/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“But when you want to mark a number on an abacus, what do you do if there are no stones in a column? The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/but-when-you-want-to-mark-a-number-on-an-abacus-what-do-you-do-if/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“2. Atoms would like to be free, too, but they’re not so pushy about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/2-atoms-would-like-to-be-free-too-but-they-re-not-so-pushy-about-it/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“1. If it’s digital, sooner or later it’s going to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/1-if-it-s-digital-sooner-or-later-it-s-going-to-be-free/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“The way to compete with free is to move past the abundance to find the adjacent scarcity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/the-way-to-compete-with-free-is-to-move-past-the-abundance-to-find/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“So, back to the future. Today we are seeing a return to a new sort of cottage industry. Once again, new technology is giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/so-back-to-the-future-today-we-are-seeing-a-return-to-a-new-sort-of/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“His most famous quote is even simpler. It is so obvious that if anyone else had said it they may have been mocked. Having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/his-most-famous-quote-is-even-simpler-it-is-so-obvious-that-if-anyone/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) > [“For all the enlightened nations that profess a loyalty to liberty, democracy, economy and all the rest, there has long been a readiness to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/for-all-the-enlightened-nations-that-profess-a-loyalty-to-liberty/) [Chris Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) [Explore all 42 Chris Anderson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/) ## More Mathematics quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [“π is a mathematician’s dessert”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-maslakovic/is-a-mathematician-s-dessert/) [Neve Maslakovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-maslakovic/) > [For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/for-the-execution-of-the-voyage-to-the-indies-i-did-not-make-use-of/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/rule-number-something-or-other-never-tell-anybody-anything-unless-you/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [If enough money is involved and enough people believe that two plus two equals five the media will report the story with a straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/if-enough-money-is-involved-and-enough-people-believe-that-two-plus/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [There's no reason for men to be better at maths than women - it's just about our perception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-riley/there-s-no-reason-for-men-to-be-better-at-maths-than-women-it-s-just/) [Rachel Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-riley/) > [“I had a chat with May and I had a sweet talk with April but the lovely conversation that left me to ponder was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/i-had-a-chat-with-may-and-i-had-a-sweet-talk-with-april-but-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [For a physicist mathematics is not just a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/for-a-physicist-mathematics-is-not-just-a-tool-by-means-of-which/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [In school math and science were my favorite subjects, but I probably in my true self I'm more of a people person. At the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/in-school-math-and-science-were-my-favorite-subjects-but-i-probably/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [“How in the world did I ever find you?” Mackenzie Winters “Math class.” Brandon Knight”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-jeanisse/how-in-the-world-did-i-ever-find-you-mackenzie-winters-math-class/) [Bella Jeanisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-jeanisse/) > [“One is the notion that knowledge is worth acquiring, all knowledge, and that a solid grounding in mathematics provides one with the essential language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-patterson-jr/one-is-the-notion-that-knowledge-is-worth-acquiring-all-knowledge-and/) [William H. Patterson Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-patterson-jr/) > [The mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to the knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/the-mathematical-facts-worthy-of-being-studied-are-those-which-by/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [“When one day Lagrange took out of his pocket a paper which he read at the Académe, and which contained a demonstration of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-biot/when-one-day-lagrange-took-out-of-his-pocket-a-paper-which-he-read-at/) [Jean-Baptiste Biot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-biot/) > [“We are not told, or not told early enough so that it sinks in, that mathematics is a language, and that we can learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-j-adler/we-are-not-told-or-not-told-early-enough-so-that-it-sinks-in-that/) [Mortimer J. Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-j-adler/) [Browse all 5,382 Mathematics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian origins: The Indian word for zero was sunya, meaning “empty,” which the Arabs turned into sifr. Western scholars Latinized this into zephirus, the root of our zero.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chris Anderson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-origins-the-indian-word-for-zero/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mathematics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-origins-the-indian-word-for-zero/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3e/chris-anderson-8010_mathematics_indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-ori_410332.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Indeed, the very word “zero” has Indian origins: The Indian word for zero was sunya, meaning “empty,” which…” — Chris Anderson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Chris Anderson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-anderson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Indeed, the very word “zero” has...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-origins-the-indian-word-for-zero/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-anderson/indeed-the-very-word-zero-has-indian-origins-the-indian-word-for-zero/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```