nullable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ís?

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos

Proto-Italic *oinosder.

Proto-Italic *noinolos

Latin nūllusder.

Old French nul

Middle French nulbor.

English null

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ābilis

Old French -ablebor.

Middle English -able

English -able

English nullable

From null + -able.

Adjective

nullable (not comparable)

1. That may be nullified; nullifiable.
   • 1841, F. Barham, The political works of Marcus Tullius Cicero:

     Then you regard as nullable and voidable the laws of Titius and Apuleius, because they are unjust.

2. (computing, of a variable or object) That is allowed to have a null value.
   • 2006, Anthony Molinaro, SQL Cookbook:

     You want to perform an aggregation on a column, but the column is nullable.

Derived terms

• nullability

Noun

nullable (plural nullables)

1. (computing) A variable, etc. that is allowed to have a null value.