zinc-foil, n.

zinc-foil
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zinc-foil_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zinc-foilnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zinc-foil mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zinc-foil. 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-foil?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.0037
1850 | 0.0037
1860 | 0.0035
1870 | 0.0034
1880 | 0.0033
1890 | 0.0029
1900 | 0.0025
1910 | 0.0015
1920 | 0.001
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.00006
1970 | 0.00009
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.00009
2010 | 0.00008

### Where does the noun zinc-foil come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zinc-foil is in the 1850s.

OED's only evidence for zinc-foil is from 1851, in a translation by Henry Watts, chemist.

### Nearby entries

1. zinc-alum, n. 1851–
2. zinc-amide, n. 1859–
3. zincate, n. 1872–
4. zinc-blende, n. 1842–
5. zinc-bloom, n. 1842–
6. zinc chloride, n. 1851–
7. zinc chromate, n. 1851–
8. zinc chrome, n. 1892–
9. zinc-dust, n. 1877–
10. zinc finger, n. 1987–
11. zinc-foil, n.1851–
12. zinc green, n. 1847–
13. zinc-grey | zinc-gray, n. 1881–
14. zincian, adj. 1930–
15. zincic, adj. 1860–
16. zinciferous, adj. 1820–
17. zincification, n. 1891–
18. zincify, v. 1801–
19. zinc-iron, n. & adj. 1849–
20. zincite, n. 1854–
21. zinckenite, n. 1835–

## Meaning & use

1. 1851–
   Thin sheet zinc.
   1. 1851

      > To obtain zinc-plate, or zinc-foil, the metal cast in a tabular form is heated in a boiling solution of common salt, and then passed between rollers.

      H. Watts, translation of L. Gmelin, Hand-book of Chemistry vol. V. 4
   metal industry
   1. zinc-plate 1823–
      = zinc-foil, n.
   2. zinc-foil 1851–
      Thin sheet zinc.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zinc-foil typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zinc-foil 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 zinc-foil, n., 1840–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1840 | 0.0037
1850 | 0.0037
1860 | 0.0035
1870 | 0.0034
1880 | 0.0033
1890 | 0.0029
1900 | 0.0025
1910 | 0.0015
1920 | 0.001
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.00006
1970 | 0.00009
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.00009
2010 | 0.00008

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

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