zinc-airadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zinc-air mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zinc-air. 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 adjective zinc-air?
| 2017 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 0.009 |
| 2019 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 0.015 |
| 2021 | 0.014 |
| 2022 | 0.014 |
| 2023 | 0.016 |
| 2024 | 0.016 |
Where does the adjective zinc-air come from?
Earliest known use
1970s
The earliest known use of the adjective zinc-air is in the 1970s.
OED's earliest evidence for zinc-air is from 1970, in the writing of C. L. Mantell.
Nearby entries
- zimb, n.1790–
- Zimba, n.1625–
- Zimbabwe, n.1891–
- Zimbabwean, adj. & n.1961–
- zimbel, n.1888–
- zimme, n.1848–63
- Zimmer, n.1951–
- zina, n.1817–
- zinc, n.1651–
- zinc, v.1843–
- zinc-air, adj.1970–
- Zincala, n.1844–91
- Zincalo, n.1841–
- zinc-alum, n.1851–
- zinc-amide, n.1859–
- zincate, n.1872–
- zinc-blende, n.1842–
- zinc-bloom, n.1842–
- zinc chloride, n.1851–
- zinc chromate, n.1851–
- zinc chrome, n.1892–
Meaning & use
- 1970–Applied to a type of primary cell employing a zinc anode, a porous carbon cathode able to utilize atmospheric oxygen, and an alkaline electrolyte.
- 1970
These portable zinc-air batteries are being used in man~pack transceivers, night vision devices, and space satellite communications.
C. L. Mantell, Batteries & Energy Systems vi. 63 - 1978
The Gould zinc-air button cell is..used in hearing aids and other devices which require a moderately high current.
Journal Electrochem. Society vol. 125 333c/2
the world matter physics electromagnetic radiation electricity galvanism, voltaism [adjectives] primary relating to- platinum-zinc1840–Formed of alternate plates of platinum and zinc, as a voltaic cell.
- Smee1852–Used attributively and in the possessive to designate an obsolete type of primary cell or battery invented by Smee (Phil. Mag. (1840) 16 315)…
- Weston1895–attributive and in the genitive. Designating a primary cell with a very low variation of voltage with temperature, used as a standard voltage source…
- zinc-air1970–Applied to a type of primary cell employing a zinc anode, a porous carbon cathode able to utilize atmospheric oxygen, and an alkaline electrolyte.
Frequency
zinc-air typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zinc-air 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 zinc-air, adj., 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 | 0.0054 |
| 1970 | 0.006 |
| 1980 | 0.0063 |
| 1990 | 0.0063 |
| 2000 | 0.0072 |
| 2010 | 0.0072 |
Frequency of zinc-air, adj., 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 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 0.009 |
| 2019 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 0.015 |
| 2021 | 0.014 |
| 2022 | 0.014 |
| 2023 | 0.016 |
| 2024 | 0.016 |