Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
naught, nought (n.)
These spellings are in divided usage in the United States, but naught is more frequent meaning “nothing,” as in It was all for naught, and nought is more frequent for the relatively infrequent meaning (in the United States, anyway) “zero,” as in It’s a big number with a lot of noughts in it. In British use, naught is always “nothing,” nought always “zero.”
