ex nihilo
Out of nothing
Ex nihilo is Latin for "out of nothing," used in English to describe creation without preexisting materials.
The phrase appears most often in theological and philosophical contexts: creation ex nihilo refers to God bringing the universe into existence from nothing at all, rather than shaping existing matter.
More broadly, it describes anything that seems to emerge from nowhere: The company appeared ex nihilo and dominated the market within a year.
- genesisPoint of creation
- creationMaking something exist
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- sparkTiny fiery particle
- tabula rasaUnmarked mental starting point
out of nothing · blank slate · void · divine will · act of God · immateriality · metaphysics · de novo · ground zero · year zero · originality · first cause · prime mover · big bang · ontology · novelty · from scratch · quantum fluctuation
- originsbeginning, birth, creation, source, roots
- Latin phrasesE pluribus unum, carpe diem, caveat emptor, veni vidi vici, ad astra
- Cosmological Argumentsfirst cause, prime mover, unmoved mover, Aquinas, Thomas Aquinas
- LatinLatin, Latin vocabulary, Latin roots, Latin alphabet, Latin phrases
ex nihiloderivative
Function's rate of change
derived · emergent · evolved · transformed · recycled
ex nihilocaused
Made something occur
contingent · dependent · emanated · generated · begotten
ex nihilotransformation
Thorough change in form
reshaping · recombination · emanation · rearrangement · modification
nihilism, annihilate, annihilation, nihilist, nihilistic, annihilator, nihility, nihilists