zone

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /zəʊn/, US /zoʊn/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin zōna (“girdle, belt; geographical belt, celestial zone”),^[2][3][4] or French zone,^[5][6] from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “belt, girdle”),^[2][3] from ζώννυμι (zṓnnumi, “to gird”),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *yōs- (“to gird”),^[2][3] the root also of Lithuanian júosti “to gird”, Old Church Slavonic pojasŭ “girdle” and Avestan yāsta “girt”.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Each of the five great belts of the earth's surface, such as the torrid and frigid zones: 1393–94 in Barnhart^[3] and before 1500 in the OED.^[7] Etymonline dates zone as a belt worn as part of dress to the late 14th century.^[2] The 10th-century Old English treatise on astronomy rendered Latin quinque zonas as “fyf gyrdlas”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was first used of the five belts divided by the tropics and polar circles,^[8][2] and then of any region between definite limits, from 1559.^[7] Encircling bands in general are from about 1600,^[2] a girdle as dress from 1608,^[7] and bands of colour from 1752.^[2] The girdle sense is obsolete but survived in poetry.^[2] Any distinct region set off from those around it, as a demilitarised zone, is from 1822.^[3][2] The town-planning sense, an area under special building restrictions, is from 1909,^[3][7] and the verb “to divide into zones” in planning from 1916.^[3][2] Zone defence in team sports is from 1927.^[2][7] The occupation zones of Germany and Austria are from 1945,^[7] and in the zone, in a state of perfect concentration, from the 1970s.^[8]

Timeline

• 1393–94 – a belt of the earth.^[3]
• 1559 – a region between limits.^[7]
• 1608 – a girdle.^[7]
• 1752 – a band of colour.^[2]
• 1822 – a distinct region.^[3][2]
• 1909 – a planning zone.^[3][7]
• 1927 – zone defence.^[2][7]
• 1970s – in the zone.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An area distinguished from nearby parts by some feature: a war zone.
2. Any of the five climatic belts of the earth's surface, such as the Torrid Zone.
3. An area set aside for a particular use under zoning laws.
4. An area served by a particular rate of postage or fare, or sharing a time.
5. (archaic) A girdle or belt.

Verb

1. To divide into zones, or to set aside for a particular use.
2. To encircle as with a belt.

Word family

• zoner
• zoneless
• zonal
• zoning

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press