Nought means zero or nothing. When you subtract 5 from 5, the answer is nought. If you search your pockets and find nought, you have no coins or treasures there.

It sounds more formal or old-fashioned than simply saying “zero” or “nothing.” You might encounter it in British English more often than American English. In Britain, people sometimes say “nought point five” for 0.5, while Americans would usually say “zero point five.”

The word appears in the phrase come to nought, meaning to fail completely or amount to nothing. If an elaborate plan to build a treehouse comes to nought, all that planning and excitement ends up producing nothing.

Nought also shows up in the game noughts and crosses, which is the British name for tic-tac-toe. One player marks noughts (circles) while the other marks crosses (Xs).

Don't confuse nought with “naught,” which is an archaic word meaning “nothing” but used differently in phrases like “all for naught” (meaning all for nothing, or wasted effort).