zoneless, adj.

zoneless
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoneless_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zonelessadjective

## Earlier version

- zoneless, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zoneless mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective zoneless. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the adjective zoneless?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1760 | 0.011
1770 | 0.014
1780 | 0.014
1790 | 0.013
1800 | 0.014
1810 | 0.015
1820 | 0.014
1830 | 0.013
1840 | 0.011
1850 | 0.0089
1860 | 0.0088
1870 | 0.0075
1880 | 0.0061
1890 | 0.005
1900 | 0.0039
1910 | 0.0027
1920 | 0.0024
1930 | 0.0018
1940 | 0.0015
1950 | 0.0012
1960 | 0.0011
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0008
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0005

### How is the adjective zoneless pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzəʊnlɪs/

### Where does the adjective zoneless come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective zoneless is in the mid 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoneless is from 1748, in the writing of William Mason, poet and garden designer.

zoneless is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zone n., ‑less suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. zonate, adj. 1866–
2. zonated, adj. 1803–
3. zonation, n. 1898–
4. zone, n. a1500–
5. zone, v. 1792–
6. zone centre | zone center, n. 1934–
7. zoned, adj. 1662–
8. zone defence | zone defense, n. 1927–
9. zone electrophoresis, n. 1952–
10. zone fossil, n. 1904–
11. zoneless, adj.1748–
12. zonelet, n. 1855–
13. zone level, v. 1974–
14. zone leveller, n. 1956–
15. zone levelling, n. 1953–
16. zone-melt, v. 1982–
17. zone melting, n. 1952–
18. zone plate, n. 1890–
19. zoner, n. 1962–
20. zone-refine, v. 1962–
21. zone refiner, n. 1959–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
< zone n. + ‑less suffix.

## Meaning & use

1. 1.
   1748–
   Not confined by, or not wearing, a zone or girdle; ungirt.
   1. 1748

      > In careless folds loose flow'd her zoneless vest.

      W. Mason, Isis 8
   2. 1785

      > Pleasure..That reeling goddess with the zoneless waist.

      W. Cowper, Task iii. 52
   3. 1802

      > I always thought him a bantling of zoneless Italian muses.

      S. T. Coleridge, Letters (1895) 370
   4. 1822

      > Come in thy zoneless grace, thy flowing locks Crown'd with the laurel of the Gods.

      H. H. Milman, Martyr of Antioch 14
   costume
   1. ungird 1382–1523
      = ungirt, adj.
   2. beltless 1535–
      Without a belt (in various senses); esp. (of a person) not wearing a belt; (of a garment) worn without or not having a belt.
   3. ungirded 1565–1869
   4. ungirdled 1611–
      (un-, prefix¹ affix 2 or un-, prefix² affix 2.)
   5. zoneless 1748–
      Not confined by, or not wearing, a zone or girdle; ungirt.
   6. ungirt 1850–
      Not girded or wearing a girdle; having the girdle or belt undone, slackened, or removed.
   7. unbelted 1880–
      (un-, prefix¹ affix 3) Also absol. as n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. ungirt 1297–
      Not girded or wearing a girdle; having the girdle or belt undone, slackened, or removed.
   2. beltless 1535–
      Without a belt (in various senses); esp. (of a person) not wearing a belt; (of a garment) worn without or not having a belt.
   3. ungirded 1565–1869
   4. unbelt 1662
      Unbelted.
   5. unzoned 1718–
      Not girt with a zone, belt, or girdle; uncinctured.
   6. zoneless 1748–
      Not confined by, or not wearing, a zone or girdle; ungirt.
   7. uncinctured 1790–
      (un-, prefix¹ affix 2.)
   8. discinct 1846–
      Lax, undisciplined; dissolute. Later also (with conscious reference to the etymology): not wearing a belt or girdle.
   9. unbelted 1870–
      (un-, prefix¹ affix 3) Also absol. as n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
2. 2.
   1836–
   Not marked with zones or bands of colour.
   1. 1836

      > Pileus of a fleshy..substance zoneless villous white.

      M. J. Berkeley in J. E. Smith, English Flora vol. V. ii. 140
   1. zoneless 1836–
      Not marked with zones or bands of colour.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzəʊnlɪs/

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

## Frequency

zoneless typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zoneless is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zoneless, adj., 1760–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1760 | 0.011
1770 | 0.014
1780 | 0.014
1790 | 0.013
1800 | 0.014
1810 | 0.015
1820 | 0.014
1830 | 0.013
1840 | 0.011
1850 | 0.0089
1860 | 0.0088
1870 | 0.0075
1880 | 0.0061
1890 | 0.005
1900 | 0.0039
1910 | 0.0027
1920 | 0.0024
1930 | 0.0018
1940 | 0.0015
1950 | 0.0012
1960 | 0.0011
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0008
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0005

zoneless, adj. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zoneless, adj. was last modified in December 2024.