zero crossing, n.

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

# zero crossingnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero crossing mean?

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

### How common is the noun zero crossing?

About 0.2occurrences per million words in modern written English

1940 | 0.038
1950 | 0.068
1960 | 0.11
1970 | 0.16
1980 | 0.19
1990 | 0.21
2000 | 0.22
2010 | 0.19

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

Earliest known use

1940s

The earliest known use of the noun zero crossing is in the 1940s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero crossing is from 1941, in U.S. Patents.

### Nearby entries

1. zero, n. & adj. 1604–
2. zero, v. 1813–
3. zeroable, adj. 1956–
4. zero balance, adj. 1974–
5. zero-base, adj. 1962–
6. zero-based, adj. 1963–
7. zero beat, n. 1920–
8. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
9. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
10. zero creep, n. 1904–
11. zero crossing, n.1941–
12. zero day, n. 1917–
13. zero-defect, adj. 1964–
14. zero derivation, n. 1960–
15. zero derivative, adj. & n. 1948–
16. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
17. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–
18. zero-emission, n. & adj. 1952–
19. zero-energy, adj. 1947–
20. zero-field, adj. 1915–
21. zero-G, adj. & n. 1950–

## Meaning & use

1. 1941–
   The crossing of the horizontal axis by a mathematical function as it passes through zero and changes sign; a point where this occurs; frequently attributive.
   The analysis of zero crossings is often an important activity in the study of complex waveforms, as is done in the fields of acoustics, electronics, and image processing.
   1. 1941

      > Equalization of adjacent harmonics insures that the zero crossings of Fig. 6 are equally spaced.

      U.S. Patent 2,266,802 2/2
   2. 1969

      > Equipment capable of analysing and recognizing speech..has achieved considerable success using the so-called zero crossing technique.

      New Scientist 1 May 225/1
   3. 2012

      > The zero crossings of the click response are not equidistant.

      H. Duifhuis, Cochlear Mech. iii. 50
   mathematics
   1. hockey stick 1843–
      a. A long, straight stick used either in field hockey (having a short curved hook or bend at its base) or ice hockey (having an inclined L-shaped…
   2. curve fitting 1895–
      The process of determining a curve (or its equation) that, subject to certain conditions, best approximates the distribution of points on a graph…
   3. demand curve 1936–
      A graph showing how the demand for a commodity or service varies with or depends on some other quantity; spec. one that shows how the demand, at…
   4. zero crossing 1941–
      The crossing of the horizontal axis by a mathematical function as it passes through zero and changes sign; a point where this occurs; frequently…
   5. matching 1955–
      Mathematics. A subset of the set of edges of a (usually bipartite) graph in which no two edges share a common vertex; a subgraph of a graph which may…
   6. length 1959–
      Mathematics. In graph theory, the number of edges in an edge sequence; also more generally, the number of components in any connected sequence.
   7. error bar 1968–
      A line drawn parallel to one of the axes of a graph to represent the uncertainty of one of the co-ordinates of the point through which it passes.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zero crossing 1941–
      The crossing of the horizontal axis by a mathematical function as it passes through zero and changes sign; a point where this occurs; frequently…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zero crossing typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.

zero crossing is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 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 zero crossing, n., 1940–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1940 | 0.038
1950 | 0.068
1960 | 0.11
1970 | 0.16
1980 | 0.19
1990 | 0.21
2000 | 0.22
2010 | 0.19

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

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