zinc finger, n.

zinc-finger
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zinc-finger_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1993; not fully revised

# zinc fingernoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zinc finger mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zinc finger. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, 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 noun zinc finger?

About 0.2occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.038
2018 | 0.043
2019 | 0.051
2020 | 0.058
2021 | 0.069
2022 | 0.08
2023 | 0.085
2024 | 0.087

### Where does the noun zinc finger come from?

Earliest known use

1980s

The earliest known use of the noun zinc finger is in the 1980s.

OED's earliest evidence for zinc finger is from 1987, in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.

### Nearby entries

1. Zincalo, n. 1841–
2. zinc-alum, n. 1851–
3. zinc-amide, n. 1859–
4. zincate, n. 1872–
5. zinc-blende, n. 1842–
6. zinc-bloom, n. 1842–
7. zinc chloride, n. 1851–
8. zinc chromate, n. 1851–
9. zinc chrome, n. 1892–
10. zinc-dust, n. 1877–
11. zinc finger, n.1987–
12. zinc-foil, n. 1851–
13. zinc green, n. 1847–
14. zinc-grey | zinc-gray, n. 1881–
15. zincian, adj. 1930–
16. zincic, adj. 1860–
17. zinciferous, adj. 1820–
18. zincification, n. 1891–
19. zincify, v. 1801–
20. zinc-iron, n. & adj. 1849–
21. zincite, n. 1854–

## Meaning & use

Biochem.

1. 1987–
   A finger-like loop of peptides enclosing a bound zinc ion at one end, usually part of a larger protein molecule (esp. one regulating transcription).
   1. [1985

      > The repeats are thought to be extended DNA-binding ‘fingers’ linked by flexible joints, each having a zinc ion centre.

      EMBO Journal vol. 4 1613 (caption) ]
   2. 1987

      > A 30-amino acid peptide, which corresponds to the second ‘zinc finger’ domain of transcription factor IIIA, has been synthesized.

      Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. vol. 84 4841
   3. 1988

      > Zinc fingers are postulated to bind selectively to control regions of the genomic DNA which is destined to transcribe 5S RNA.

      BioFactors vol. 1 34/2

## Frequency

zinc finger typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.

zinc finger is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 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 zinc finger, n., 1980–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1980 | 0.15
1990 | 0.18
2000 | 0.18
2010 | 0.23

### Frequency of zinc finger, n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

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 corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.038
2018 | 0.043
2019 | 0.051
2020 | 0.058
2021 | 0.069
2022 | 0.08
2023 | 0.085
2024 | 0.087

Originally published as part of the entry for zinc, n.

zinc, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.