zero-defect, adj.

zero-defect
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-defect_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2018

# zero-defectadjective

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zero-defect mean?

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

### How common is the adjective zero-defect?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.0048
1970 | 0.0063
1980 | 0.0072
1990 | 0.0072
2000 | 0.0086
2010 | 0.01

### Where does the adjective zero-defect come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the adjective zero-defect is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero-defect is from 1964, in Bristol (Pennsylvania) Daily Courier.

### Nearby entries

1. zeroable, adj. 1956–
2. zero balance, adj. 1974–
3. zero-base, adj. 1962–
4. zero-based, adj. 1963–
5. zero beat, n. 1920–
6. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
7. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
8. zero creep, n. 1904–
9. zero crossing, n. 1941–
10. zero day, n. 1917–
11. zero-defect, adj.1964–
12. zero derivation, n. 1960–
13. zero derivative, adj. & n. 1948–
14. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
15. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–
16. zero-emission, n. & adj. 1952–
17. zero-energy, adj. 1947–
18. zero-field, adj. 1915–
19. zero-G, adj. & n. 1950–
20. zero grade, n. 1888–
21. zero gravity, n. & adj. 1915–

## Meaning & use

1. 1964–
   Of, relating to, or resulting in the manufacture of products without flaws, defects, or errors; (also of a product) without flaws, defects, or errors.
   1. 1964

      > The new concept in vendor source development of Martin-Denver's aggressive ‘Zero-Defect’ quality assurance program.

      Bristol (Pennsylvania) Daily Courier 19 August 19
   2. 1989

      > Workers focusing on the zero-defect concept were to promote a constant conscious desire to do their jobs right the first time.

      R. E. Cole, Strategies for Learning (1991) ix. 159
   3. 1995

      > A revolutionary feature of the new systems is the zero-defect software.

      Financial Times 24 February 11/2 (advertisement)
   4. 2015

      > In order to ensure zero-defect quality, 100% inspection must be carried out.

      J. K. Bandyopadhyay, Basics Supply Chain Management xii. 250

## Frequency

zero-defect typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zero-defect is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 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 zero-defect, adj., 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 | 0.0048
1970 | 0.0063
1980 | 0.0072
1990 | 0.0072
2000 | 0.0086
2010 | 0.01

Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.

zero-defect, adj. was first published in 2018.