cipher
‘the mathematical symbol (0) denoting absence of quantity; zero’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
E. sipher, ciphra, ziphre, cypher < O.F. cifre ‘nought, zero,’ Med.Lat. cifra < Arab. sifr ‘zero’ < safara ‘to be empty’ < Skt. sunya-s ‘empty’< saifur < kaput- < Tamil kappu