zero creep, n.

zero-creep
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-creep_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zero creepnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero creep mean?

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

### How common is the noun zero creep?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1900 | 0.0012
1910 | 0.0011
1920 | 0.0012
1930 | 0.0016
1940 | 0.0022
1950 | 0.0025
1960 | 0.0026
1970 | 0.0025
1980 | 0.0026
1990 | 0.0027
2000 | 0.0024
2010 | 0.002

### Where does the noun zero creep come from?

Earliest known use

1900s

The earliest known use of the noun zero creep is in the 1900s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero creep is from 1904, in London, Edinburgh, & Dublin Philosophical Magazine.

### Nearby entries

1. zerk, n. 1926–
2. zero, n. & adj. 1604–
3. zero, v. 1813–
4. zeroable, adj. 1956–
5. zero balance, adj. 1974–
6. zero-base, adj. 1962–
7. zero-based, adj. 1963–
8. zero beat, n. 1920–
9. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
10. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
11. zero creep, n.1904–
12. zero crossing, n. 1941–
13. zero day, n. 1917–
14. zero-defect, adj. 1964–
15. zero derivation, n. 1960–
16. zero derivative, adj. & n. 1948–
17. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
18. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–
19. zero-emission, n. & adj. 1952–
20. zero-energy, adj. 1947–
21. zero-field, adj. 1915–

## Meaning & use

Now rare.

1. 1904–
   (On the graduated scale of an instrument or device) spontaneous slow displacement of the true zero reading.
   1. 1904

      > The addition of a temperature-compensation device to minimize the zero-creep when the temperature of the whole instrument changes.

      London, Edinburgh, & Dublin Philosophical Magazine 6th Series vol. 8 95
   2. 1970

      > The zero creep of the gravimeters, produced by their transportation and adjustment, decreased.

      Soviet Antarctic Exped. Information Bulletin vol. 8 No. 2. 94
   measurement
   1. zero creep 1904–
      (On the graduated scale of an instrument or device) spontaneous slow displacement of the true zero reading.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zero creep typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zero creep 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 zero creep, n., 1900–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1900 | 0.0012
1910 | 0.0011
1920 | 0.0012
1930 | 0.0016
1940 | 0.0022
1950 | 0.0025
1960 | 0.0026
1970 | 0.0025
1980 | 0.0026
1990 | 0.0027
2000 | 0.0024
2010 | 0.002

Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.

zero, n. & adj. was revised in June 2018.