What does cero in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word cero in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use cero in Spanish.

The word cero in Spanish means zero, zero, nonexistent, nil, zero, year zero, year zero, below zero, absolute zero, from scratch, from zero, double zero, tied at zero, start from scratch, start from scratch, [number] degrees below zero, be a nobody, zero tolerance, ground zero. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word cero

zero

adjetivo de una sola terminación (número) (number)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Llevamos cuarenta y cinco días con cero accidentes en esta planta.
45 days have passed with no accidents in this plant.

zero

nombre masculino (signo) (cardinal number)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Hay un error en este cheque: falta un cero en la cifra.
This cheque has an error; there's a zero missing in the amount.

nonexistent, nil

adjetivo (coloquial (nulo, inexistente)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
¡Ni siquiera ha llegado el bus que nos va a llevar al volcán! ¡Organización cero!
The bus that is supposed to take us to the volcano has not even arrived. Zero organization!

zero

nombre masculino (nivel, medida) (level)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Queremos reducir nuestras emisiones de gases hasta poder mantenerlas en cero.
We want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions until we can keep them at zero.

year zero

locución nominal masculina (figurado (inicio incierto)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El año en que terminó la lucha fue el año cero para el país en ruinas.
The year that the fighting stopped was year zero for the country in ruins.

year zero

locución nominal masculina (finanzas: inversión)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Al evaluar un proyecto, en el año cero sólo aparece la inversión inicial.

below zero

locución adverbial (temperatura baja) (Celsius)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Hoy estamos a ocho grados bajo cero y pronostican que mañana hará más frío.
Today we are at eight degrees below freezing and the forecast for tomorrow is even colder.

absolute zero

locución nominal masculina (temperatura mínima)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El cero absoluto equivale a −273,15 C.
Absolute zero is the equivalent of −273.15 °C.

from scratch

locución adverbial (informal (desde el comienzo)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
El cocinero tuvo que volver a hacer el pastel desde cero porque le puso sal en lugar de azúcar a la mezcla.

from zero

locución adverbial (sin recursos)

Arrancamos de cero y nos costó mucho mantenernos pero el negocio va prosperando.
We started from zero and it was really hard to get going, but the business is starting to thrive.

double zero

locución nominal masculina (dos ceros)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Marca doble cero para llamadas internacionales.

tied at zero

locución nominal masculina (resultado deportivo)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
El partido terminó con un empate a cero.
The game ended and was tied at zero.

start from scratch

locución verbal (volver a empezar)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Tuve que tirar la mezcla que se malogró y empezar de cero.
I had to throw out the mix that spoiled and start from scratch.

start from scratch

locución verbal (olvidar hechos pasados)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Olvidemos todo lo que ha pasado y empecemos de cero.
Let's forget everything that has happened and start from scratch.

[number] degrees below zero

(temperatura)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Suspendieron las clases porque estamos a 15 grados bajo cero.

be a nobody

locución verbal (carecer de valor)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
En la casa, la tía Carla era un cero a la izquierda y a nadie le importaba su opinión.
At home, aunt Carla was a nobody.

zero tolerance

locución nominal femenina (política)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El ministro recalcó que se mantendrá tolerancia cero contra la violencia doméstica.
The minister emphasized that there would be zero tolerance for domestic violence.

ground zero

locución nominal femenina (sitio de una catástrofe)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Muchos reporteros informaron sobre el memorial desde la zona cero.
Many reporters reported on the memorial from ground zero.

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of cero in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

Do you know about Spanish

Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.