The story of 零

zero, nought

零 is composed of 雨(rain) and 令. 令 depicts a man giving command to another man, which generates the meaning of scatter and small quantity. Compare to river and sea, the water from rain is scattered and small in quantity, so 雨 also has the meaning of scatter, small and rare. On the other hand, 零 also means zero, since it means small in quantity.