‘0’ (zero) can be both ‘noll’ and ‘null’ in Russian, but there's a nuance!
Both of these words refer to the same thing, but there is a difference between them.
In Russian, the digit ‘0’ (zero) can be written as both ‘ноль’ (‘noll’) and ‘нуль’ (‘null’). However, the first variant is used more in colloquial speech, while the second is used in phraseological units and formal texts.
For example: ‘Начать с нуля’ (‘Start from scratch’; ‘start from square one’), but ‘он полный ноль в математике’ (‘he's a complete zero in math’).
This is because ‘нуль’ entered the Russian language earlier, from Germany or Holland (Latin ‘nullus’), while ‘ноль’ came later from Sweden (‘noll’).
