zero option, n.

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

# zero optionnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero option mean?

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

### How common is the noun zero option?

About 0.04occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.0036
2018 | 0.0048
2019 | 0.0046
2020 | 0.0056
2021 | 0.0046
2022 | 0.0042
2023 | 0.0032
2024 | 0.003

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

Earliest known use

1970s

The earliest known use of the noun zero option is in the 1970s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero option is from 1976, in International Arms Control.

### Nearby entries

1. zero hour, n. 1915–
2. zero-hours, adj. 1988–
3. zeroing, n. 1906–
4. zeroize, v. 1894–
5. zero-length, adj. 1945–
6. zero-line, n. 1834–
7. zero magnet, n. 1890–
8. zero mark, n. 1821–
9. zero meridian, n. 1849–
10. zero norm, n. 1966–
11. zero option, n.1976–
12. zero-order, adj. 1919–
13. zero plane, n. 1842–
14. zero point, n. 1789–
15. zero-point energy, n. 1913–
16. zero population growth, n. 1955–
17. zero post, n. 1908–
18. zero-power, adj. 1950–
19. zero-rate, v. 1972–
20. zero-rated, adj. 1972–
21. zero rating, n. 1971–

## Meaning & use

1. 1976–
   A disarmament proposal for the total removal of certain types of weapons on both sides of a conflict or confrontation; spec. one put forward in the early 1980s for both the Soviet Union and the United States to remove all their medium-range nuclear missiles from Europe.
   1. 1976

      > The Soviets surprised the Americans by agreeing to the general idea of an NCA limitation even before the Zero option was presented.

      International Arms Control (Stanford Arms Control Group) ix. 184
   2. 1981

      > By reviving controversy about a moratorium and the ‘zero option’, Brandt's trip appears to have realized some of the fears of those in the West German government and opposition party.

      Washington Post 5 July a20/1
   3. 2015

      > An INF Treaty eliminated a class of nuclear missiles in Europe—the so-called zero option that had been Reagan's opening gambit.

      Washington Post (Nexis) 25 August a13

## Frequency

zero option typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.

zero option 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 option, n., 1970–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1970 | 0.045
1980 | 0.041
1990 | 0.041
2000 | 0.041
2010 | 0.051

### Frequency of zero option, n., 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 | 0.0036
2018 | 0.0048
2019 | 0.0046
2020 | 0.0056
2021 | 0.0046
2022 | 0.0042
2023 | 0.0032
2024 | 0.003

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

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