Etymologically
Log in

zone

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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in general are from about 1600,[2] a girdle as dress from 1608,[7] and bands of colour from 1752.[2] The girdle sense is obsolete but survived in poetry.[2] Any distinct region set off from those around it, as a demilitarised zone, is from 1822.[3][2] The town-planning sense, an area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