Nihils

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A philosophical term referring to beliefs in the non-existence of knowledge or truth
2. Denoting concepts or arguments that emphasize worthlessness or the absence of value
3. Relating to the ideas of nihilism that assert rejection of meaningful existence or purpose

Etymology: "Nihils" is the plural of "nihil", a noun that in English is seldom used on its own, so the plural form is itself unusual. Both words come from Latin "nihil", meaning "nothing", which was also the source of the older English form "nil". The Latin word is a compound of "ne" ("not") and "hilum" ("a trifle" or "a small thing"), though the Latin itself is the direct source for the English words here. Because the plural follows the same pattern as the noun it describes, "nihils" points to a group of people or ideas holding that nothing has meaning. The Latin root gives the whole family its sense of emptiness: a "nil" is a zero, and "nihil" carries that same blank quality into philosophy, where "nihilism" names the rejection of any objective meaning or purpose in existence.

Synonyms: nothings, voids

Antonyms: somethings, entities