शून्य
śūnya[sunːe]
Zero in Nepali is शून्य (śūnya).
शून्य is used as the mathematical cardinal number zero. It also functions as an adjective to mean 'void', 'empty' or 'null'.
Meaning: cardinal number before 1, denoting nothing (num)
How do you pronounce it?
śūnya
Did you know?
- Ancient mathematicians from India, who used the Sanskrit root of शून्य, are credited with inventing the symbol and the concept of zero as a digit.
- In many spiritual contexts in Nepal, शून्य refers not just to a number, but to the profound philosophical state of 'emptiness' or 'nothingness' in Buddhist thought.
- While शून्य is used for mathematics, in everyday casual counting or when describing a score in sports, Nepali speakers often use the English loanword 'zero'.
Examples in context
- टमको कथाले शून्य अर्थ दिन्छ।Tom's story makes zero sense.This sentence is useful for seeing how शून्य can be used to express that something makes zero sense.Tatoeba #11924411 by taro, translation #11397557 by Adelpa
- तापमान शून्य डिग्री छ।taapmaan shunya degree cha.The temperature is zero degrees.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a recent math test result.
- अविनाश Avinashतपाईंको अंक कति आयो?tapaiiko anka kati aayo?What score did you get?
- अनीता Anitaमलाई शून्य अंक आयो।malai shunya anka aayo.I got a zero.
- अविनाश Avinashओहो, यो त धेरै कम हो।oho, yo ta dherai kam ho.Oh, that is very low.
- अनीता Anitaहो, म धेरै दुखी छु।ho, ma dherai dukhi chu.Yes, I am very sad.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “zero” translations and entries शून्य, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
