zinc white, n.

zinc-white
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zinc-white_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zinc whitenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zinc white mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zinc white. 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 zinc white?

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1800 | 0.0015
1810 | 0.002
1820 | 0.0049
1830 | 0.008
1840 | 0.017
1850 | 0.023
1860 | 0.032
1870 | 0.05
1880 | 0.068
1890 | 0.08
1900 | 0.086
1910 | 0.09
1920 | 0.09
1930 | 0.084
1940 | 0.068
1950 | 0.053
1960 | 0.041
1970 | 0.033
1980 | 0.023
1990 | 0.02
2000 | 0.019
2010 | 0.019

### Where does the noun zinc white come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zinc white is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zinc white is from 1847, in British Pat. 11,616.

### Nearby entries

1. zincography, n. 1834–
2. zincoid, n. 1842–
3. zinc orange, n. 1918–
4. zincous, adj. 1842–
5. zinc-plate, n. 1823–
6. zinc-powder, n. 1881–
7. zinc roof, n. 1883–
8. zinc spar, n. 1796–
9. zinc-sponge, n. 1902–
10. zinc sulphide, n. 1851–
11. zinc white, n.1847–
12. zincy, adj. 1757–
13. zinc yellow, n. 1847–
14. zindabad, int. & n. 1930–
15. zindan, n. 1844–
16. Zindikite, n. 1694–
17. Zindiq, n. 1667–
18. zine, n. 1946–
19. zineb, n. 1950–
20. zines, int.?1701–10
21. zinester, n. 1986–

## Meaning & use

1. 1847–
   Oxide of zinc used as a white paint.
   1. 1847

      > The dryer is added to the color prepared with the zinc white.

      British Pat. 11,616 9
   2. 1849

      > Zinc white is valuable..in painting, on account of its durability both in oil and water.

      Weale's Dictionary Terms (at cited word)
   painting and drawing
   1. white lead late Old English–
      A basic carbonate of lead, much used as a white pigment in paints and cosmetics, and also in waterproof sealants and lubricant; = ceruse, n.…
   2. white a1300–
      White pigment; any of various types of such pigment. Frequently with distinguishing word.
   3. blank plumb c1325–
      White (obsolete, and chiefly in specific uses, e.g. blank plumb white lead, blank falcon a ‘white hawk,’ i.e. one in its third year); pale…
   4. ceruse c1405–
      A name for white lead, n. a mixture or compound of carbonate and hydrate of lead (usually 2 PbCO3+ PbH2O2); largely used as a white paint, formerly…
   5. white earth 1448–
      Clay or other earthy material that is light-coloured; (Painting) earth colour that is white.
   6. litharge 1551–1800
      Used as equivalent to white lead or red lead (see lead, n.¹ 2).
   7. mineral white 1651–
      Any of several mineral salts used as a white pigment, esp. barium sulfate (permanent white) and calcium sulfate (gypsum).
   8. flake-white 1660–
      A pigment made from the purest white-lead in the form of flakes or scales.
   9. Vienna white 1816–
      In the names of pigments used in painting, decorative arts, etc. Either of two white pigments, (a) calcium carbonate; (b) white lead (lead carbonate).
   10. permanent white 1822–
       A paint or tint of intense white which does not discolour.
   11. Chinese white 1826–
       A fine-grained white pigment typically consisting of zinc oxide.
   12. satin white 1829–
       A pigment consisting of calcium sulfate and alumina, used in papermaking.
   13. zinc white 1847–
       Oxide of zinc used as a white paint.
   14. constant white 1854–
       = permanent white, n.
   15. Krems 1854–
       Used attributively to designate a white lead pigment used as a paint base; the same as Cremnitz white.
   16. Cremnitz 1874–
       Used attributively to designate a white lead pigment used as a paint base.
   17. silver-white 1875–
       A pure white lead used by artists; Chinese white.
   18. lithopone a1884–
       A mixture of zinc sulfide and barium sulfate used as a white pigment in paint, linoleum, and printing ink, and as a filler in paper.
   19. baryta white 1885–
       = permanent white (see permanent, adj. & n.compounds).
   20. Charlton white 1885–
       A house-painters' pigment consisting of barium and strontium sulfates with zinc sulfide; = lithopone, n.
   21. earth white 1908–
       A white pigment obtained from an earth (earth, n.¹ IV.16).
   22. titanium white 1920–
       A white pigment consisting chiefly or wholly of titanium dioxide.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. motey 1353–1510
      An earth (perhaps similar to ochre) used as a pigment; (perhaps) a pigment which has a speckled or mottled appearance when applied.
   2. green earth 1634–
      Any of various greenish, clayey materials; spec. †(a) crude borax (obsolete); (b) the pigment terre verte; (c) Mineralogy the mineral glauconite.
   3. terre-verte 1658–
      A soft green earth of varying composition used as a pigment; esp. that obtained from Italy (Verona), Cyprus, and France; = celadonite, n. or green…
   4. Terra Sienna 1760–
      = Siena, n. Also attributive.
   5. Siena 1787–
      (Usually written Sienna.) A ferruginous earth used as a pigment in oil and water-colour painting (called burnt sienna when it has been exposed to a…
   6. gamboge yellow 1807–
      A yellow pigment of which gamboge is an ingredient; the colour of such a pigment.
   7. zinc white 1847–
      Oxide of zinc used as a white paint.
   8. zinc-powder 1881–
      = zinc-dust, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zinc white typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

zinc white is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 zinc white, n., 1800–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1800 | 0.0015
1810 | 0.002
1820 | 0.0049
1830 | 0.008
1840 | 0.017
1850 | 0.023
1860 | 0.032
1870 | 0.05
1880 | 0.068
1890 | 0.08
1900 | 0.086
1910 | 0.09
1920 | 0.09
1930 | 0.084
1940 | 0.068
1950 | 0.053
1960 | 0.041
1970 | 0.033
1980 | 0.023
1990 | 0.02
2000 | 0.019
2010 | 0.019

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

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