Nothingness Meaning
/nˈʌθɪŋnəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe state of nonexistence; the condition of being nothing.
nounA void; an emptiness.
Sentence Examples
Fiona felt trapped in a void of nothingness.
Tom's dreams faded into nothingness.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After everything is gone, only vast ____ remains in that empty space.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The silent white landscape stretched out into a vast ____ in every direction.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English nothing Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English nothingness From nothing + -ness.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness; but still will keep / A bower quiet for us, and a sleep / Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing."
— 1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 3, lines 1–5:
"In 1928 [Martin] Heidegger succeeded [Edmund] Husserl to take a chair at Freiburg and in his inaugural lecture made a pronouncement that earned him a reputation as an archetypal metaphysician with his claim that our awareness of people as a whole depends on our experience of dread in the face of nothingness."
— 2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London, page R11:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After everything is gone, only vast ____ remains in that empty space.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The silent white landscape stretched out into a vast ____ in every direction.