5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Nil  \Nil\  [See  {Nill},  v.  t.] 
  Will  not  [Obs.]  --Chaucer. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Nil  \Nil\,  n.  &  a.  [L.,  a  contr.  of  nihil.] 
  Nothing;  of  no  account;  worthless;  --  a  term  often  used  for 
  canceling,  in  accounts  or  bookkeeping.  --A.  J.  Ellis. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  nil 
  n  1:  nothing  (as  used  by  a  sheriff  after  an  unsuccessful  effort 
  to  serve  a  writ:  "nihil  habet")  [syn:  {nihil}] 
  2:  a  quantity  of  no  importance;  "it  looked  like  nothing  I  had 
  ever  seen  before";  "reduced  to  nil  all  the  work  we  had 
  done";  "we  racked  up  a  pathetic  goose  egg";  "it  was  all 
  for  naught";  "I  didn't  hear  zilch  about  it"  [syn:  {nothing}, 
  {nix},  {nada},  {aught},  {cipher},  {cypher},  {goose  egg}, 
  {naught},  {zero},  {zilch},  {zip}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  NIL  /nil/  No  Used  in  reply  to  a  question,  particularly  one 
  asked  using  the  `-P'  convention.  Most  hackers  assume  this  derives  simply 
  from  LISP  terminology  for  `false'  (see  also  {T}),  but  NIL  as  a  negative 
  reply  was  well-established  among  radio  hams  decades  before  the  advent 
  of  LISP.  The  historical  connection  between  early  hackerdom  and  the  ham 
  radio  world  was  strong  enough  that  this  may  have  been  an  influence. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  NIL 
 
  /nil/  1.  New  Implementation  of  Lisp.  A  language  intended  to 
  be  the  successor  of  {MacLisp}.  A  large  {Lisp},  implemented 
  mostly  in  {VAX}  {assembly  language}.  A  forerunner  of  {Common 
  LISP}. 
 
  ["NIL:  A  Perspective",  Jon  L.  White,  MACSYMA  Users'  Conf  Proc, 
  1979]. 
 
  2.  Network  Implementation  Language.  Strom  &  Yemini,  TJWRC 
  IBM.  Implementation  of  complex  networking  protocols  in  a 
  modular  fashion. 
 
  ["NIL:  An  Integrated  Language  and  System  for  Distributed 
  Programming",  R.  Strom  et  al  SIGPLAN  Notices  18(6):73-82 
  (June  1983)]. 
 
  3.  Empty  list  or  False.  In  {Lisp},  the  empty  list  (or  "nil 
  list")  is  used  to  represent  the  {Boolean}  value  False.  This 
  is  possible  because  {Lisp}  is  not  typed.  True  is  represented 
  by  the  special  {atom}  "t". 
 
  4.  Spoken  in  reply  to  a  question,  particularly  one  asked  using 
  the  "-P"  convention  it  means  "No".  Most  hackers  assume  this 
  derives  simply  from  LISP,  but  NIL  meaning  no"  was 
  well-established  among  radio  hams  decades  before  LISP  existed. 
  The  historical  connection  between  early  hackerdom  and  the  ham 
  radio  world  was  strong  enough  that  this  may  have  been  an 
  influence. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
 

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