Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

zeroth

adjective

/ˈzɪəroʊθ/

Definition

denoting a position in a sequence that is before the first; having a rank or value of zero.

Examples

The zeroth step of the process is to gather all necessary materials.
In computer science, the zeroth element of an array can sometimes refer to its first item when indexing starts at zero.
The zeroth law of thermodynamics establishes thermal equilibrium between systems.

Meaning

The term zeroth is used to indicate something that occurs before the first item or element in a series. In various fields, such as mathematics and computer science, it is often used to refer to the initial state or condition.