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zip

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Zip, a sharp sound, speed or a fastener, is imitative; zip, nothing, is of uncertain origin.[1][2]

Pronunciation

zip1 sound, speed, fastener

Etymology

The zip of speed is imitative of the sound of an object passing rapidly through the air or of fabric tearing.[1][4][5][6] The fastener sense comes through zipper, formed from it, and the verb to fasten is a back-formation from zipper.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To move rapidly, with a zipping sound: 1852, American English.[1][4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, the sound, is from 1875,[1][2] and figuratively energy, force or vim from 1900.[1][2] Zippy is from 1904.[1] Zipper, a sliding fastener, is from 1925, registered as a trademark for a boot with such a closing;[1] zip as the fastener itself is from 1928,[2] and to fasten with a zip from 1932, in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.[1][4][2] Zip up is from 1959.[4] Word Origins notes that the idea of speed was already present before the fastener.[7]

Timeline

  • 1852 – to zip, move fast.[1]
  • 1875 – the sound.[1][2]
  • 1900 – energy.[1][2]
  • 1925 – zipper.[1]
  • 1928 – a zip fastener.[2]
  • 1932 – to zip, fasten.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly British) A fastener with two rows of interlocking teeth closed by a sliding tab; a zipper.
  2. A short sharp whizzing sound.
  3. (informal) Energy; vim.

Verb

  1. To move fast, with or as if with a whizzing sound.
  2. To fasten or unfasten with a zip.

Word family

  • zipper
  • zippy
  • unzip
  • zip fastener

zip2 nothing

Etymology

Zip, nothing, is of uncertain origin, perhaps an expressive alteration of zero (compare zilch).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mark of zero among students: about 1900, American English.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

It is now used especially of a score of zero in sports.[1][8]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (US, informal) Nothing; zero, nil.

Usage notes

The American zip code, a postal code (from 1963), is unrelated, being short for Zone Improvement Plan.[7][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin