zip, n.³

zip
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zip_n3%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zipnoun3

## Earlier version

- zip, n.² in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zip mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zip. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zip?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.011
1970 | 0.013
1980 | 0.014
1990 | 0.014
2000 | 0.016
2010 | 0.018

### How is the noun zip pronounced?

#### British English

/zɪp/
zip

#### U.S. English

/zɪp/
zip

### Where does the noun zip come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zip is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zip is from 1962, in Chicago Daily Defender.

It is also recorded as an exclamation from the late 1600s.

zip is formed within English, as an acronym.

Etymons: English Zone Improvement Plan, Zoning Improvement Plan.

### Nearby entries

1. Zion Curtain, n. 1951–
2. Zioner, n. 1681–1760
3. Zionism, n. 1896–
4. Zionist, n. & adj. a1649–
5. Zionistic, adj. 1887–
6. Zionite, n. 1596–
7. Zionless, adj. 1908
8. Zionward, adv. 1647–
9. Zionwards, adv. 1674–
10. zip, n.² & adj. 1900–
11. zip, n.³1962–
12. zip, n.⁴ 1968–
13. zip, v.¹ 1852–
14. zip, v.² 1964–
15. zip, int. & n.¹ 1678–
16. zip-a-dee-doo-dah, int. & adj. 1945–
17. zip code, n. 1962–
18. zip-code, v. 1962–
19. zip-coded, adj. 1963–
20. zip-coding, n. 1964–
21. zip coon, n. 1833–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, as an acronym.
Etymons: English Zone Improvement Plan, Zoning Improvement Plan.
< the initial letters of either Zone Improvement Plan or Zoning Improvement Plan, punningly after zip int. (with reference to an increased speed of postal delivery).

## Meaning & use

1. 1962–
   In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail; = zip code n. 1. Cf. postcode n.
   Five-digit zip codes were first used in 1963; in 1983 an optional four-digit extension to these, further specifying the location, was introduced.
   1. 1962

      > Speedier delivery will be made possible by a zone improvement plan code called Zip, designed for use by the nation's large volume mailers.

      Chicago Daily Defender 29 November 2/4
   2. 1969

      > Once a person has miswritten the zip, the computer just misdirects the mail.

      Computers & Humanities vol. 4 69
   3. 1977

      > A 13-cent U.S. commemorative honoring 50 years of talking pictures will go on sale Thursday in Hollywood, Cal., where the postmaster Zip is 90028.

      Chicago Tribune 2 October vi. 26/4
   4. 1999

      > ‘What's the zip?’ ‘Nine oh oh four eight. Couple of blocks from Chasen's.’

      E. Leonard, Be Cool (2005) i. 5
   1. postal code 1959–
      = postcode, n.
   2. zip 1962–
      In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the…
   3. zip code 1962–
      In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the…
   4. postcode 1967–
      A group of letters or numbers, or both, added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. Later also: the area designated…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zɪp/
zip

### U.S. English

/zɪp/
zip

####

##### 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.

####

##### Consonants

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

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- 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.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1900s–
   ZIP, Z.I.P., Zip

## Frequency

zip typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zip is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 zip, n.³, 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.011
1970 | 0.013
1980 | 0.014
1990 | 0.014
2000 | 0.016
2010 | 0.018

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zip code, n. 1962–
   In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code…

zip, n.³ was revised in March 2021.

zip, n.³ was last modified in July 2023.