7

The set of numbers for a six-sided die are: ace, deuce, trey, cater, cinque, sice. They originate from Old French (cf. un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six in modern French). Ace comes from Latin as, assis (unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage). They can be mentioned in other situations (e.g. cards) or expressions ("to ace (something): to do exceptionally well"). There are connections with the history of science, since the zero arose quite late in Western countries.

Does a similar form for the zero exist?

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Laurent Duval
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    There are no zeroes on dice. – John Lawler Nov 20 '16 at 18:39
  • @JohnLawler No kidding? "Ace" does not exist on dice only: for instance cards. – Laurent Duval Nov 20 '16 at 18:40
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    Playing cards don't have a zero. – BladorthinTheGrey Nov 20 '16 at 18:53
  • @BladorthinTheGrey I am providing context for substantives. Not trying to find inexistent sides or cards. – Laurent Duval Nov 20 '16 at 18:55
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    While the terms ace, deuce, trey, cater, cinque and sice have been made obsolete by one to six, they are still used by some professional gamblers to designate different sides of the dice. *Ace is from the Latin as, meaning "a unit";* the others are 2 to 6 in old French. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice –  Nov 20 '16 at 18:57
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    @LaurentDuval The unstated implication is: if there was no everday object for the word you're seeking to describe, then such a word (ie in the same register) may not exist. – Dan Bron Nov 20 '16 at 18:57
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    Western culture gambled with dice long before they were introduced to the Hindu concept of zero. The natural numbers start with 1; there is no zero. – John Lawler Nov 20 '16 at 19:05
  • @DanBron Possibly! Just a question for which I do not have an answer. There are connections with the history of science, since the zero arose quite late in Western countries – Laurent Duval Nov 20 '16 at 19:07
  • @JohnLawler Which does not hinders the existence of a novel term. Languages evolve – Laurent Duval Nov 20 '16 at 19:11
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    Related: Why is a zero score in tennis or squash called love? – Scott - Слава Україні Nov 20 '16 at 20:06
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    @Scott +1 I was not aware of the l'œuf origin. However, how does an egg stand the "-th"? – Laurent Duval Nov 20 '16 at 20:45
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    Since we're talking about eggs, I propose 'duck' for zero. – Řídící Nov 20 '16 at 20:49
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    @LaurentDuval: I don’t understand why you’re asking about “egg” + “-th”.  The ordinal form of “zero” is “zeroth”.  There aren’t ordinal (-st, -nd, -rd, or -th) forms of “ace”, “deuce”, “trey”, “cater”, “cinque”, and “sice”, are there? – Scott - Слава Україні Nov 20 '16 at 21:09
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    @Keepthesemind: Actually, “goose egg” is slang for “zero” (in English). – Scott - Слава Україні Nov 20 '16 at 21:09
  • @Scott My initial concern was about: should one write "zeroth-order" or "zero-order", on the expression "Zeroth-order hold" or "Zero-order hold"? I thought "Zeroth" was correct, but common online knowledge gives "Zero-order hold" a win? Then my mind wandered.... – Laurent Duval Nov 20 '16 at 21:14
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    @LaurentDuval: I know whereof you speak — I've lost my mind. It wandered off last year, and I haven't seen it since.   :-)   ⁠ – Scott - Слава Україні Nov 20 '16 at 21:18
  • If by "a similar form" you mean "1 is to 0, as ace is to...?" then you already have some good answers (like "love") but the obvious missing two are, from playing cards: "Joker", and, from games of all sorts, "nought," as in Noughts and Crosses, etc. – JeremyDouglass Nov 29 '16 at 00:20
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    "Cipher" is a synonym of "zero." but at least historically it is more the name of the numeral than of the number. Here is the 2nd sentence of Liber Abaci: With these nine figures and with the sign 0, which the Arabs call "zephir," any number whatsoever is written, as is demonstrated below. I'm not the scorekeeper, but I would say "cipher" is worth at least a goose egg. – Airymouse Nov 29 '16 at 14:21

1 Answers1

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The question might be paraphrased:

Complete the pattern with a word that played a parallel historical role:

  • count: three, two, one, zero
  • rank: third, second, first, zeroth
  • dice: trey, deuce, ace, ____

Briefly, there is no exact fit because historically, dice didn't have 0 until perhaps as late as the mid-20th century, ditto playing cards, etc. etc.

However, some candidates for near matches:

  1. "nought" / "naught" -- Old English word meaning "nothing" that came to mean "zero" sometime in the 15th century. Featured in games such as Noughts and Crosses, so nought / ace / deuce....
  2. "love" -- tennis word for zero, and tennis is a medieval French that emerged in the 15th century and uses the the words ace and deuce, so there you have it. Etymological theories are that the term "love" either means "no money" or that it is a corruption of the French word for egg (l'œuf), indicateing an egg-shaped zero (also termed a "goose-egg").
  3. "joker" -- a specially named card (like the "ace") with no numerical marking (so perhaps like zero). A counterargument is that the origin of the joker is relatively recent (19th century), even if it might be modeled on the Fool tarot, and furthermore that the joker's origin and gameplay use puts it closer to meaning "infinity" (an uber-trump) than to "zero".
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JeremyDouglass
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    To be more like zero there'd need to be four jokers; one for each suit. I tend to think of jokers as wild cards- being able to stand for any existing value rather than zero. – Jim Nov 29 '16 at 06:37
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    One zero-card per suit would also be interesting, but it isn't required for the zero card concept, for the same reason that we don't need +0 and -0. So, if I have a box of 2 diamonds, and a box of 3 clubs, and a box of nothing, it isn't automatic to say "what kind of nothing? No diamonds, or no clubs?" It could just be: nothing. – JeremyDouglass Nov 29 '16 at 21:31