zoninghttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoning_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezoning, n.
First published 1986; not fully revised

zoningnoun

  1. 1.
    a1821–
    Dividing into zones.
    1. a1821
      Not so much air As in the zoning of a summer's day.
      J. Keats, Hyperion (new edition) 15 in Misc. Philobiblon Society (1856–7) vol. III
    2. 1888
      What Mr. Lockyer has called the zoning of colour in the heavens.
      Nature 5 July 225
    3. 1904
      The zoning of the strata.
      Edinburgh Review January 220
    4. 1942
      Further steps, including the zoning of the distribution of manufactured goods..are being investigated by the Ministry.
      Times 5 June 2/3
    5. 1945
      In the zoning of Germany the United States Navy has been allotted the ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven.
      Daily Telegraph 17 May 5/7
    6. 1946
      The transport of food from production or import points to wholesalers' stores was effected by ‘zoning’ schemes... The country was divided into..zones, and movement between different zones..was allowed only by permit.
      How Britain was fed in War Time (H.M.S.O.) iii. 22
    7. 1968
      After the First World War... A new zoning law regulated the height of buildings in relation to the width of the streets.
      New York City (Michelin) 16
  2. 2.
    1912–
    (Town-)Planning. The regulation of land use by particular planning restrictions in designated areas. Originally U.S.
    1. 1912
      In view of..existing indirect zoning laws, why not add some of the building laws in force in Frankfurt-on-the-Main?
      Proceedings 4th Nat. Conference City Planning 190
    2. 1914
      The well-established principle of zoning that has been in operation for a generation or more in that country [sc. Germany].
      Proceedings 6th Nat. Conference City Planning 92
    3. 1921
      Zoning’ means the locating of industries in the areas which are best suited for them and the reserving for housing of districts best adapted for this purpose.
      Glasgow Herald 25 March 8/3
    4. 1940
      The Town-Planning Act of 1932 perpetuated this cleavage... Now there was ‘zoning’..segregating families according to their incomes.
      R. Graves & A. Hodge, Long Week-end xi. 175
    5. 1943
      Some States have introduced compulsory ‘agricultural zoning’ by which certain types of farming are prohibited in certain areas.
      J. S. Huxley, TVA 31
    6. 1966
      The zoning game: municipal practices and policies.
      R. F. Babcock (title)
    7. 1978
      Crossing over to the rivers south of Annapolis,..Chris had a chance to see how lack of zoning and policing had encouraged this shoreline to become a marine slum.
      J. A. Michener, Chesapeake xiii. 830

Additional sense (2019)

  1. 1977–
    Nigerian English. The system or practice of allocating nominations for certain political offices to candidates from particular regions, as part of an unofficial power-sharing arrangement within a political party, intended to produce balanced regional representation.
    [With this sense compare later zone v. Additions.]
    1. 1977
      On the question of zoning in the presidential election, the country is divided into two major zones, A and B i. e. the north and the south.
      Great Deb. vi. 334
    2. 2019
      The variable that will play a dominant role in the governorship election is zoning.
      Sun (Nigeria) (Nexis) 5 February

zoning, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zoning, n. was last modified in June 2024.