NIL

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

nil
    n 1: 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},
         {nil}, {nix}, {nada}, {null}, {aught}, {cipher}, {cypher},
         {goose egg}, {naught}, {zero}, {zilch}, {zip}, {zippo}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Nil \Nil\ [See {Nill}, v. t.]
   Will not. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Nil \Nil\, n. (computers)
   A special value for a variable used in certain computer
   languages to mean no assigned value, to be distinguished from
   the value zero.
   [PJC]

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

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 (8 July 2008)

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}]