nihil

pron

The verdict

“nihil” is uncommon Portuguese (frequency #97,989 among 881 “N” headwords), classed as a pronoun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#97,989
frequency rank, Portuguese
881
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - nada

Key facts for nihil
PropertyValue
Headwordnihil
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechPronoun
Letters5
Frequency rank#97,989
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nihil” sits in Portuguese frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). nihil lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nihil is uncommon Portuguese at frequency #97,989 among 881 “N” headwords, classed as apronoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

nihil doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Portuguese form is nihil, spelled N-I-H-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    nada
  2. 2
    coisa alguma

Synonyms

nil

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nihil"?
"nihil" is spelled N-I-H-I-L.
What does "nihil" mean?
As a pronoun, "nihil" means: nada
What language does "nihil" come from?
"nihil" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “nihil”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Portuguese spelling is N-I-H-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words

Other uncommon Portuguese words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list