zonally, adv.

zonally
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zonally_adv%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zonallyadverb

## Factsheet

### What does the adverb zonally mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adverb zonally. 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 adverb zonally?

About 0.05occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.0082
1880 | 0.01
1890 | 0.01
1900 | 0.011
1910 | 0.014
1920 | 0.017
1930 | 0.02
1940 | 0.025
1950 | 0.033
1960 | 0.041
1970 | 0.045
1980 | 0.048
1990 | 0.051
2000 | 0.055
2010 | 0.056

### Where does the adverb zonally come from?

Earliest known use

1870s

The earliest known use of the adverb zonally is in the 1870s.

OED's earliest evidence for zonally is from 1873, in the writing of Andrew Wilson, traveller and writer.

### Nearby entries

1. zombify, v. 1950–
2. zombocalypse, n. 2007–
3. zomboid, adj. 1963–
4. zom-com, n. 2004–
5. zomotherapeutic, adj. 1900–
6. zomotherapy, n. 1900–
7. zona, n. 1706–
8. zona ignea, n. 1818–
9. zonal, adj. 1867–
10. zonality, n. 1909–
11. zonally, adv.1873–
12. zonal marking, n. 1958–
13. zona pellucida, n. 1841–
14. zona radiata, n. 1881–
15. zona reticularis, n. 1874–
16. zonarious, adj. 1656–
17. zonary, adj. 1881–
18. zonate, adj. 1866–
19. zonated, adj. 1803–
20. zonation, n. 1898–
21. zone, n. a1500–

## Meaning & use

1. 1873–
   In or according to zones.
   Stressed as ˈzonally.
   1. 1873

      > The segments..of the body, which are arranged zonally along a longitudinal axis.

      A. Wilson, Elements of Zoology i. ii. 22
   2. 1889

      > Crystals of the hyacinth variety of quartz..contain numerous inclusions of anhydrite arranged zonally.

      American Naturalist vol. 23 814
   1. zonally 1873–
      In or according to zones.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. ringwise 1577–
      In a ring, so as to form a ring or rings.
   2. annularly 1706–
      In the manner or form of a ring or rings.
   3. zonally 1873–
      In or according to zones.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zonally typically occurs about 0.05 times per million words in modern written English.

zonally 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 zonally, adv., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.0082
1880 | 0.01
1890 | 0.01
1900 | 0.011
1910 | 0.014
1920 | 0.017
1930 | 0.02
1940 | 0.025
1950 | 0.033
1960 | 0.041
1970 | 0.045
1980 | 0.048
1990 | 0.051
2000 | 0.055
2010 | 0.056

### Frequency of zonally, adv., 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 | 0.0048
2018 | 0.0044
2019 | 0.0055
2020 | 0.0081
2021 | 0.0099
2022 | 0.012
2023 | 0.014
2024 | 0.015

Originally published as part of the entry for zonal, adj.

zonal, adj. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.