Z-carnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun Z-car mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Z-car. 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 Z-car?
| 2017 | 0.048 |
| 2018 | 0.054 |
| 2019 | 0.05 |
| 2020 | 0.049 |
| 2021 | 0.047 |
| 2022 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 0.032 |
| 2024 | 0.031 |
Where does the noun Z-car come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the noun Z-car is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for Z-car is from 1961, in the Radio Times.
Nearby entries
- zatch, n.1950–
- zawiya, n.1836–
- zawn, n.1865–
- zayat, n.1823–
- zayde, n.1946–
- zazen, n.1727–
- zazzy, adj.1961–
- Z band, n.1950–
- ZBB, n.1976–
- Z-bed, n.1973–
- Z-car, n.1961–
- Z-day, n.1925–
- Z-DNA, n.1979–
- ze, pron.1864–
- zea, n.1562–
- zeagonite, n.1823–
- zeal, n.a1382–
- zeal, v.1542–1687
- Zealander, n.¹1663–
- Zealander, n.²1773–
- Zealandic, adj.1807–
Meaning & use
- 1961–A police patrol car (after the title of a popular U.K. television series, from the radio call-sign ‘zulu’ allotted therein to a group of such cars); also used allusively.
- 1961
The call-sign is ZULU—they call them Z-cars. There are two young constables in each, ready to deal with trouble.
Radio Times 28 December 29/2 - 1963
Z-car crashes.
Daily Mail 23 April 1/6 (heading) - 1965
Two black Z-cars—powerful Humbers—keep driving around the half-mile circle every five minutes watching for strangers.
Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 19 December 32/5 - 1976
It's not like Barlow and Z Cars, all that shouting stuff and strong jaws. These boys, they was slimy.
‘D. Craig’, Faith, Hope & Death xviii. 127
- police cruiser1858–A police patrol car; (also, in early use) a police boat.
- police car1881–A car (formerly also a carriage) used by the police.
- cop car1921–A car used by the police; a police car.
- prowl car1922–A police patrol car.
- cruiser1929–A police-car that patrols the streets. North American.
- unit1929–U.S. A motor vehicle, (now) esp. a police car.
- patrol car1931–A police car used by officers for patrolling roads.
- scout car1933–a. U.S. a police patrol car; b. Military a fast armoured vehicle used for reconnaissance and liaison.
- squad car1938–
- Z-car1961–A police patrol car (after the title of a popular U.K. television series, from the radio call-sign ‘zulu’ allotted therein to a group of such cars)…
- black and white1965–U.S. slang. A (marked) police car.
- panda1966–In extended use, with reference to the black-and-white markings of a giant panda. British colloquial. More fully panda car. A police patrol car…
- squad1974–elliptical for squad car, n. Police slang.
Frequency
Z-car typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Z-car 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 of Z-car, n., 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 | 0.0012 |
| 1970 | 0.0019 |
| 1980 | 0.0024 |
| 1990 | 0.0024 |
| 2000 | 0.0027 |
| 2010 | 0.0031 |
Frequency of Z-car, 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 | 0.048 |
| 2018 | 0.054 |
| 2019 | 0.05 |
| 2020 | 0.049 |
| 2021 | 0.047 |
| 2022 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 0.032 |
| 2024 | 0.031 |