The concept of "nothing" is a relational concept that refers to the absence or lack of something. It is often used to describe the lack of matter, presence, or existence of anything in a particular space. The idea of "nothing" is abstracted from our observation of things and is used to express the idea of the non-presence of these things.
The concept of "nothing" is not as straightforward as it may seem. Even in a complete vacuum, which is often considered to be the closest approximation to "nothingness", there are still quantum particle fields present. These particle fields are a result of the fluctuations in energy that take place in the vacuum and are described by the laws of quantum mechanics.
The idea that a "thing" can not exist is a very human concept. It involves conceptualizing something, and then conceptualizing it not being. Existing "things" do not not exist in the external world, they either exists as a culmination of particles, or those particles make something else up. Non-existence isn't a thing, it's only a concept.