“Double ought” means “double zero,” written as “00.” The word “ought” (also spelled “aught”) is an old term for the number zero, so “double ought” simply refers to two zeros side by side. You’ll encounter it across surprisingly different fields, from ammunition and wire gauges to flour and steel wool, where “00” appears as a grade or size designation. In each case, the underlying idea is the same: a sizing system that uses zeros to indicate position on a scale.
Why “Ought” Means Zero
The word “naught” has meant “nothing” or “zero” in English for centuries, and it still shows up in phrases like “all for naught.” Sometime in the 1800s, speakers started dropping the “n” and using “aught” or “ought” to mean zero. Linguists consider this a corruption of the original word. One theory is that the phrase “a naught” gradually blurred into “an aught,” similar to how “a napron” became “an apron” over time.
The spelling bounced between “ought” and “aught” for generations. Both trace back to Old English, and by the Early Modern period they were pronounced and used interchangeably. The term became firmly associated with zero through firearms culture. The famous .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge, for instance, was spoken as “thirty-aught-six,” with “aught-six” standing for 1906, the year of its adoption. That phrase cemented “aught” as a common American word for zero that persists today.
Double-Ought Buckshot
This is probably the most common context where people hear “double ought.” In shotgun ammunition, buckshot pellets are graded by size using a numbering system where smaller numbers mean larger pellets. Once the scale passes zero, it adds more zeros: 0 (“single ought”), 00 (“double ought”), and 000 (“triple ought”).
A standard 12-gauge, 2¾-inch shell of 00 buckshot holds 8 pellets, each 0.33 inches in diameter. Step up to a 3-inch shell and you get 12 of those same pellets. For comparison, 000 buckshot pellets measure about 0.36 inches across, only three hundredths of an inch larger but noticeably heavier per pellet. Double-ought buckshot is the most widely used size for home defense and law enforcement because it strikes a balance between pellet weight and pellet count.
Wire Gauge (2/0 AWG)
The American Wire Gauge system sizes electrical wire on a descending scale: higher numbers mean thinner wire. Once you pass 0 gauge (one-ought), the wire keeps getting thicker but the system adds zeros instead of going negative. So 00 is called “two-ought” or “double ought,” written as 2/0 AWG.
Bare copper 2/0 wire has a diameter of about 0.365 inches (9.27 mm) and can carry 175 amps with standard insulation, or 195 amps with higher-temperature insulation. This is heavy industrial cable, the kind used in large electrical panels, battery banks, and welding equipment. The scale continues upward to 3/0, 4/0, and beyond for even thicker conductors.
Italian 00 Flour (Tipo 00)
In Italian milling, flour is graded by how finely it’s ground and how much bran and germ remain. The scale runs from tipo 2 (coarsest) down through tipo 1, tipo 0, and finally tipo 00, the finest grade. “Doppio zero” (double zero) flour has a powder-like texture often compared to baby powder, with an ash content below 0.55%, meaning almost all of the bran has been sifted out.
Protein content in 00 flour varies more than people expect. Versions made for pastry run as low as 7 to 9 percent protein, while pizza and pasta varieties land between 11 and 13 percent. That range overlaps significantly with North American all-purpose flour, which typically falls around 10 to 12 percent. The real difference is the grind: 00 flour is considerably finer than all-purpose, which gives pizza dough its characteristic smooth, elastic texture and helps pasta sheets roll thin without tearing.
Steel Wool Grades
Steel wool uses a similar zero-based grading system. Coarser pads carry higher numbers (like #3 or #4), while finer pads descend through #1, #0, #00, #000, and #0000. Grade 00 (double ought) has individual fibers between 0.0012 and 0.0022 inches wide, roughly 30 to 56 microns. That’s fine enough for light cleaning, polishing between coats of finish, and smoothing wood without scratching. It sits in the middle of the fine range, coarser than the ultra-fine #0000 used for buffing wax but finer than the #0 grade used for general scrubbing.
Ear Stretching and Body Jewelry
Body piercing gauges follow the same inverted logic as wire gauge, since the system actually derives from it. A 00 gauge plug or tunnel measures 10 millimeters (about 3/8 inch) in diameter. In the stretching community, reaching 00g is considered a significant milestone because it’s widely cited as the point beyond which earlobes are unlikely to shrink back to a standard piercing size on their own.
Roulette’s Double Zero
American roulette wheels have 38 pockets: numbers 1 through 36, a single zero, and a double zero (00). The 00 pocket is what separates American roulette from European roulette, which has only a single zero and 37 total pockets. That extra pocket changes the math significantly. The house edge on an American wheel is 5.26%, nearly double the 2.70% edge on a European wheel. One specific bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 carries an even steeper house edge of 7.89%, making it the worst bet on the table.
The Pattern Behind the Zeros
Across all these uses, “double ought” marks a specific position on a scale that has run past zero and keeps going. In ammunition and steel wool, more zeros mean larger or finer. In wire gauge and body jewelry, more zeros mean thicker. In flour, more zeros mean a finer grind. The logic isn’t universal, but the naming convention is: once a grading system hits zero, it stacks additional zeros rather than switching to negative numbers or a new naming scheme entirely. That quirk of measurement history is why the same old word for “nothing” shows up in your kitchen, your gun safe, and your electrical panel.