number

Zero

Numbers & forms · Words

A numeral and a word for none. Indian śūnya as a mathematical place, later European cipher, and occult “void” talk are not one doctrine of emptiness.

Also known as śūnya · shunya · cipher (numeral)

Late antiquity

  • Zero is historically related to Cipher.

    English cipher once named zero, from Arabic ṣifr, itself in conversation with Sanskrit śūnya. Later “cipher” as secret writing is another job of the word.

    from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009

    historically related to · sourced · documented

  • Cipher is derived from Zero.

    The European word for zero is historically a borrowing-path, not an occult void. Secret writing is a later sense.

    from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009

    derived from · sourced · documented

Vedic tradition

  • Zero is associated with Knowledge.

    Indian mathematics treats śūnya as a numeral and a place in positional notation. That is a history of calculation, not a Theosophical emptiness.

    from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009

    associated with · sourced · documented

  • Zero is associated with Writing.

    A numeral is a written mark. Plofker’s history is about Indian mathematics, not an occult alphabet of the void.

    from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009

    associated with · sourced · documented

sources