zebra crossing, n.

zebra-crossing
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zebra-crossing_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zebra crossingnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zebra crossing mean?

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

### How common is the noun zebra crossing?

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1950 | 0.012
1960 | 0.014
1970 | 0.015
1980 | 0.017
1990 | 0.018
2000 | 0.02
2010 | 0.021

### Where does the noun zebra crossing come from?

Earliest known use

1930s

The earliest known use of the noun zebra crossing is in the 1930s.

OED's earliest evidence for zebra crossing is from 1934, in Parliamentary Debates.

### Nearby entries

1. zeal-transported, adj. a1644–59
2. zeal-worthy, adj. 1797
3. zea maize, n. 1811–
4. zearalanol, n. 1966–
5. zearalenone, n. 1966–
6. zeatin, n. 1963–
7. zeaxanthin, n. 1929–
8. Zebedist, n. 1574
9. zebra, n. 1597–
10. zebra caterpillar, n. 1841–
11. zebra crossing, n.1934–
12. zebra danio, n. 1917–
13. zebraed, adj. 1806–
14. zebra finch, n. 1868–
15. zebrafish, n. 1771–
16. zebraic, adj. 1858–
17. zebra marking, n. 1854–
18. zebra moray, n. 1933–
19. zebra mule, n. 1841–
20. zebra mussel, n. 1866–
21. zebrano, n. 1908–

## Meaning & use

1. 1934–
   A pedestrian crossing marked by broad light and dark stripes running parallel to the kerb from one side of a road to the other, at which (in most countries) vehicles must stop if a person wishes to cross.
   1. 1934

      > Excellent though Hore-Belisha beacons and studs and zebra crossings are, their partial adoption will add to the danger of the streets.

      Hansard Commons 14 November 1956
   2. 1950

      > The initial values of the percentage of drivers giving way are higher on the ‘zebra’ crossings than on the plain.

      Surveyor 23 June 365/2
   3. 1977

      > He..called out angrily after a car which had failed to stop at a zebra crossing.

      B. Pym, Quartet in Autumn ii. 23
   4. 2017

      > The group was on a zebra crossing but the cabbie had failed to give way.

      Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 13 June 1
   1. street crossing 1826–
   2. crosswalk 1904–
      North American and Western Australian. A pedestrian crossing. Also figurative.
   3. pedestrian crossing 1933–
      A marked section of roadway where pedestrians crossing the road are given precedence over vehicular traffic.
   4. Belisha crossing 1934–
      Used attributively with reference to officially recognized pedestrian crossings in the United Kingdom… Belisha crossing: = zebra crossing, n.; also…
   5. zebra crossing 1934–
      A pedestrian crossing marked by broad light and dark stripes running parallel to the kerb from one side of a road to the other, at which (in most…
   6. overcross 1950–
      An overpass, a flyover. Also: a pedestrian crossing, esp. one in the form of a bridge.
   7. zebra 1951–
      Chiefly British (originally colloquial). Short for zebra crossing, n.
   8. ped xing 1961–
      On road signs: pedestrian crossing.
   9. panda crossing 1962–
      In extended use, with reference to the black-and-white markings of a giant panda. In the U.K.: a type of pedestrian crossing distinguished by…
   10. pelican crossing 1966–
       More fully pelican crossing. In the U.K.: a pedestrian crossing having traffic lights activated by pedestrians.
   11. puffin 1992–
       More fully puffin crossing. A type of pedestrian crossing at which traffic lights are controlled in part by sensors which detect the presence of…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zebra crossing typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

zebra crossing 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 zebra crossing, n., 1950–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1950 | 0.012
1960 | 0.014
1970 | 0.015
1980 | 0.017
1990 | 0.018
2000 | 0.02
2010 | 0.021

### Frequency of zebra crossing, 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 | 0.063
2018 | 0.057
2019 | 0.051
2020 | 0.047
2021 | 0.047
2022 | 0.048
2023 | 0.05
2024 | 0.057

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

zebra, n. was revised in June 2018.