zero-emission, n. & adj.

zero-emission
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-emission_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1999

# zero-emissionnoun & adjective

## Factsheet

### What does the word zero-emission mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word zero-emission. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the word zero-emission?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0029
1970 | 0.0062
1980 | 0.0086
1990 | 0.01
2000 | 0.012
2010 | 0.015

### Where does the word zero-emission come from?

Earliest known use

1950s

The earliest known use of the word zero-emission is in the 1950s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero-emission is from 1952, in Proceedings Ann. Meeting Air Pollution & Smoke Prevention Assoc. Amer.

### Nearby entries

1. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
2. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
3. zero creep, n. 1904–
4. zero crossing, n. 1941–
5. zero day, n. 1917–
6. zero-defect, adj. 1964–
7. zero derivation, n. 1960–
8. zero derivative, adj. & n. 1948–
9. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
10. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–
11. zero-emission, n. & adj.1952–
12. zero-energy, adj. 1947–
13. zero-field, adj. 1915–
14. zero-G, adj. & n. 1950–
15. zero grade, n. 1888–
16. zero gravity, n. & adj. 1915–
17. zero-graze, v. 1954–
18. zero-grazed, adj. 1958–
19. zero grazing, n. 1954–
20. zero growth, n. 1907–
21. zero hour, n. 1915–

## Meaning & use

1. 1952–
   a. n. (Esp. with reference to vehicles or industrial processes) emission of no or very few pollutants; b. adj. (esp. of a vehicle or industrial process) characterized by the emission of no or very few pollutants; cf. low emission adj.
   Emissions are typically products of combustion, and may be gaseous or in particulate form. In the context of global warming, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are often implied.
   1. 1952

      > Thus we have zero emission of nitrogen oxides now, against a very definite amount a few years ago.

      Proceedings Ann. Meeting Air Pollution & Smoke Prevention Assoc. Amer. 66/1
   2. 1971

      > Spaces with zero-emission were entered in the clean zone and the optimum distribution of emission rates..was found.

      Atmospheric Environment vol. 5 61
   3. 1991

      > A new California clean air law mandates that by 1998, 2 percent of a manufacturer's sales in the state release zero emissions.

      Dispatch (Gilroy, California) 26 July b4/1
   4. 1996

      > A $50 million investment fund (to be financed by governments) to underwrite zero-emissions factories.

      Fast Company June 114/1
   5. 2001

      > Our children's children may run their energy-efficient world on zero-emission fuel cells powered by plentiful hydrogen.

      Review (Rio Tinto plc) December 9/2
   6. 2002

      > A century revolutionised by the combustion engine could..make way for a new era defined by zero-emission vehicles using a completely different technology.

      D. Goleman et al., Business: Ultimate Resource 1825/3
   7. 2007

      > It will still emit considerable pollution, though less than a conventional coal plant. ‘Calling it zero-emission is a blatant lie.’

      Chicago Tribune (Midwest edition) 19 December i. 10/5

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also zero-emissions.

## Frequency

zero-emission typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zero-emission 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 zero-emission, n. & adj., 1950–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0029
1970 | 0.0062
1980 | 0.0086
1990 | 0.01
2000 | 0.012
2010 | 0.015

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

zero-emission, n. & adj. was first published in 1999.