#arabic numerals

zero (17c), from the French zéro, via the Italian zero, via the Medieval Latin zephirum, via the Arabic sifr, ultimately from the Sanskrit sunya-m, meaning “empty place, desert, naught.” 

The concept of zero was invented separately by four civilizations: the 2100c BCE Babylonians, the 1c Chinese, the 4-9c Mayans, and 9c Indians. Zero conceptually requires a positional number system: eg. a ones place, tens place, hundreds place, and so on. Systems like the Romans’ were additive: they functionally counted, with less or no reliance on the position of the numbers, eg. V for five, C for one hundred. Old English had no specific numerical writing system, simply number words that tended to be used adjectivally: eg., “I have ten fingers.” Our current “Arabic numeral” system was invented in India in 6c, and introduced to Europe by Arabic-speakers in 10c.