0 (zero; BrE: /ˈzɪərəʊ/ or AmE: /ˈziːroʊ/) is both a number[1] and the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals. It fulfils a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, 0 is used as a placeholder in place value systems. In the English language, 0 may be called zero,nought or (US) naught (pron.: /ˈnɔːt/), nil, or — in contexts where at least one adjacent digit distinguishes it from the letter "O" — oh or o (pron.: /ˈoʊ/). Informal or slang terms for zero include zilch and zip. Ought or aught (pron.: /ˈɔːt/) has also been used historically.

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References

1. Bemer, R. W. (1967). 'Towards standards for handwritten zero and oh: much ado about nothing (and a letter), or a partial dossier on distinguishing between handwritten zero and oh'.Communications of the ACM 10 (8): 513–518.doi:10.1145/363534.363563.
2. Bunt, Lucas Nicolaas Hendrik; Jones, Phillip S.; Bedient, Jack D. (1988). The historical roots of elementary mathematics. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 254–255. ISBN 0-486-2556- 3., Extract of pages 254-255
3. Catherine Soanes, ed. (2001). The Oxford Dictionary, Thesaurus and Word power Guide (Hardback). Maurice Waite, Sara Hawker (2nd ed.). New York, United States: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860373-3.
4. Devlin, Keith, Mathematics: The Science of Patterns: The Search for Order in Life, Mind and the Universe (Scientific American Paperback Library) 1996, ISBN 9780716750475 ^ The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford English Dictionary, sub 'mathematics', 'mathematic', 'mathematics'
5. Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
6. Kang-Shen Shen; John N. Crossley; Anthony W. C. Lun; Hui Liu (1999). The Nine Chapterson the Mathematical Art: Companion and Commentary. Oxford University Press. p. 35.ISBN 978-0-19-853936-0. 'Zero was regarded as a number in India... whereas the Chinese employed a vacant position'
7. Luke Hodgkin (2 June 2005). A History of Mathematics: From Mesopotamia to Modernity:From Mesopotamia to Modernity. Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-19-152383-0.
8. Menninger, Karl (1992). Number words and number symbols: a cultural history of numbers.Courier Dover Publications. p. 401. ISBN 0-486-27096-3.
9. Russel, Bertrand (1942). Principles of mathematics (2 ed.). Forgotten Books. p. 125. ISBN 1-4400- 5416-9., Chapter 14, page 125
10. S. Dehaene; G. Dehaene-Lambertz; L. Cohen (Aug 1998). 'Abstract representations of numbers in the animal and human brain'. Trends in Neuroscience 21 (8): pp. 355-361. doi:10.1016/S0166- 2236(98)01263-6.

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