zone therapy, n.

zone-therapy
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zone-therapy_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zone therapynoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zone therapy mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zone therapy. 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 zone therapy?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1910 | 0.0063
1920 | 0.0063
1930 | 0.0061
1940 | 0.0065
1950 | 0.0049
1960 | 0.0059
1970 | 0.0073
1980 | 0.0086
1990 | 0.009
2000 | 0.0098
2010 | 0.01

### Where does the noun zone therapy come from?

Earliest known use

1910s

The earliest known use of the noun zone therapy is in the 1910s.

OED's earliest evidence for zone therapy is from 1915, in the Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut).

### Nearby entries

1. zone level, v. 1974–
2. zone leveller, n. 1956–
3. zone levelling, n. 1953–
4. zone-melt, v. 1982–
5. zone melting, n. 1952–
6. zone plate, n. 1890–
7. zoner, n. 1962–
8. zone-refine, v. 1962–
9. zone refiner, n. 1959–
10. zone refining, n. 1952–
11. zone therapy, n.1915–
12. zone time, n. 1908–
13. Zonian, n. 1910–
14. zonic, adj. 1797–
15. zoning, n. a1821–
16. zonite, n. 1860–
17. zonitic, adj. 1888–
18. zonk, v. 1950–
19. zonk, int. 1949–
20. zonked, adj. 1959–
21. zonkey, n. 1953–

## Meaning & use

1. 1915–
   A technique in which different parts of the feet (or palms) are massaged to relieve conditions in different parts of the body with which they are held to be associated.
   1. 1915

      > Dr. James A. Lawton will attend a meeting of the New England Osteopathic Association in Boston today, and will conduct a clinic in ‘Zone Therapy’.

      Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 14 May 12/1
   2. 1917

      > Dr. Roemer..examined him in a characteristic zone therapy way. He searched the patient's fingers with a metal comb to find out what was the matter with his teeth.

      W. H. FitzGerald, Zone Therapy xvi. 157
   3. 1971

      > Zone Therapy is based on the premise that one zone of the body acts as a microcosm of the whole.

      N. Saunders, Alternative London (ed. 2) xv. 123
   4. 1979

      > The origin of the reflex method is obscure. It is said that it came from China to the West... It is known to have been used by the natives of Kenya, and also by some American Indian tribes. At the beginning of this century it was called zone therapy by one Dr Fitzgerald [sic] in America who used it as a form of anaesthesia to render the patient insensible to pain when performing small operations, and to ease childbirth.

      D. E. Bayly in A. Hill, Visual Encycl. of Unconventional Medicine 61
   massage
   1. lomi-lomi 1850–
      The shampooing practised among the Hawaiians.
   2. fulling 1868–
      In massage: gentle kneading of superficial tissue, as a therapeutic technique. Cf. pétrissage, n.
   3. anma 1891–
      A form of traditional Japanese massage therapy in which pressure is applied to certain points on the body using the hands. Frequently as a…
   4. Swedish massage 1911–
      A system of massage combined with manipulation of the joints and muscles, first devised in Sweden.
   5. reflexology 1913–
      Alternative Medicine. Originally: a form of medical treatment based on percussion of the spine and stimulation of spinal nerves (now historical)…
   6. zone therapy 1915–
      A technique in which different parts of the feet (or palms) are massaged to relieve conditions in different parts of the body with which they are…
   7. reflex therapy 1916–
      = reflexology, n. 1.
   8. deep tissue massage 1923–
      A type of massage therapy intended to treat the body's deep tissue; an instance of this.
   9. touch therapy 1960–
      The use of touch as a therapeutic technique, esp. any of various alternative or complementary treatments based on touch (e.g. reiki…
   10. structural integration 1963–
       A system of deep tissue manipulation and postural adjustment developed by Ida P. Rolf (cf. Rolf, n.); also called Rolfing.
   11. postural integration 1968–
       Any of various kinds of specialized massage used in complementary therapy and claimed to reduce tension and bring about mental well-being through…
   12. Rolfing 1970–
       A proprietary name for: a technique of deep tissue manipulation aimed at muscular realignment and the reduction of muscular and consequently psychic…
   13. tui na 1979–
       In traditional Chinese medicine: a type of therapeutic massage, incorporating the principles of acupressure and qigong, used to treat muscle or…
   14. Hellerwork 1981–
       A therapeutic programme involving deep tissue massage and exercise, designed to correct posture, improve mobility, relieve emotional stress, etc. A proprietary name in the United States.
   15. deep tissue 1983–
       colloquial. Short for deep tissue massage, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zone therapy typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zone therapy 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zone therapy, n., 1910–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1910 | 0.0063
1920 | 0.0063
1930 | 0.0061
1940 | 0.0065
1950 | 0.0049
1960 | 0.0059
1970 | 0.0073
1980 | 0.0086
1990 | 0.009
2000 | 0.0098
2010 | 0.01

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

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