zinc-dustnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zinc-dust mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zinc-dust. 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-dust?
| 1870 | 0.023 |
| 1880 | 0.027 |
| 1890 | 0.026 |
| 1900 | 0.023 |
| 1910 | 0.022 |
| 1920 | 0.021 |
| 1930 | 0.017 |
| 1940 | 0.012 |
| 1950 | 0.0056 |
| 1960 | 0.0029 |
| 1970 | 0.0024 |
| 1980 | 0.0018 |
| 1990 | 0.0014 |
| 2000 | 0.0011 |
| 2010 | 0.0012 |
Where does the noun zinc-dust come from?
Earliest known use
1870s
The earliest known use of the noun zinc-dust is in the 1870s.
OED's only evidence for zinc-dust is from 1877, in Journal of Chemical Society.
Nearby entries
- 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–
- zinc-dust, n.1877–
- zinc finger, n.1987–
- zinc-foil, n.1851–
- zinc green, n.1847–
- zinc-grey | zinc-gray, n.1881–
- zincian, adj.1930–
- zincic, adj.1860–
- zinciferous, adj.1820–
- zincification, n.1891–
- zincify, v.1801–
- zinc-iron, n. & adj.1849–
Meaning & use
- 1877–Zinc in the form of fine powder (often mixed with zinc oxide and other impurities), obtained by grinding, or in the extraction of zinc from its ores, and used as a deoxidizing agent and as a paint (see zinc-grey n.).
- 1877
Action of Zinc-dust on the Chlorides of Sulphoparabromobenzoic Acid.
Journal of Chemical Society vol. 32 468
- lac1558–1820Originally: any of various red paints or pigments made from organic and inorganic materials other than lac. In later use more generally: a pigment…
- purpurin1558–1775Powdered brass or bronze mixed with liquid and used as a colouring material. Obsolete.
- colourish1598–1691A colouring matter used to give the appearance of gold. Also figurative.
- earth1598–= earth colour, n. A.1. Frequently with distinguishing word. Cf. earth pigment, n.
- watercolour1598–A type of artists' paint made with a water-soluble binder and thinned with water rather than oil (frequently in plural). Also as a mass noun…
- earth colour1658–A pigment obtained from an earth (earth, n.¹ IV.16), as an ochre or umber.
- encaustic1662A pigment or glaze applied by ‘burning in’.
- lake1684–In extended sense: A pigment obtained by the combination of animal, vegetable, or coal-tar colouring matter with some metallic oxide or earth…
- virgin tint1706–A brilliant tint, such as appears clearly to be of a given colour, without shading closer to white or black; (also) a tint made up of only two…
- mosaic gold1746–A gold-coloured metallic powder, consisting mainly of tin disulfide, used in decorating wood, etc. Also called aurum mosaicum, aurum musivum, bronze p…
- bronze1753–(More fully bronze powder: see compounds C.2): A metallic powder (usually brass, copper, or tin) used in painting, printing, and the like.
- gold bronze1769–A metallic powder containing or resembling gold, used in paints and other decorative coatings (cf. bronze, n. 4).
- cake colour1784–Paint or pigment prepared or sold in the form of a cake.
- musive gold1796= mosaic gold, n. 2.
- sap-colour1816–(See quot. 1816).
- repaint1827–A paint used in repainting; a layer of colour added in repainting.
- moist colour1842–A watercolour paint in the form of a soft paste.
- bronze powder1846–= bronze, n. 4.
- wax-colour1854–a. A pigment ground with wax for encaustic painting; b. the yellow colour of wax.
- wax pigment1854–A pigment prepared with wax.
- bitumen1855–A pigment prepared from asphalt.
- alkali blue1873–Any of various blue dyes which are applied or remain fast in alkaline conditions; spec. any of a series of sodium salts of phenylated rosaniline…
- chrome garnet1876–A pigment prepared from basic chromate of lead.
- zinc-dust1877–Zinc in the form of fine powder (often mixed with zinc oxide and other impurities), obtained by grinding, or in the extraction of zinc from its…
- zinc-powder1881–= zinc-dust, n.
- terra nera1882–Used, with qualifying adjectives, to form the names of medicinal and other earths, boles, and the like… See quot.
- earth pigment1900–= earth colour, n. A.1.
- white rust1677–A white coating or discoloration produced on the surface of various metals by exposure to moist air or other corrosive agents; esp. (in early use)…
- zinc chloride1851–A white, crystalline, deliquescent solid, ZnCl2, used as a preservative, a flux, and in Leclanché cells.
- zinc sulphide1851–A yellow, water-insoluble powder, ZnS, used as a pigment and as a phosphor.
- zinc-dust1877–Zinc in the form of fine powder (often mixed with zinc oxide and other impurities), obtained by grinding, or in the extraction of zinc from its…
Frequency
zinc-dust typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zinc-dust 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-dust, n., 1870–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1870 | 0.023 |
| 1880 | 0.027 |
| 1890 | 0.026 |
| 1900 | 0.023 |
| 1910 | 0.022 |
| 1920 | 0.021 |
| 1930 | 0.017 |
| 1940 | 0.012 |
| 1950 | 0.0056 |
| 1960 | 0.0029 |
| 1970 | 0.0024 |
| 1980 | 0.0018 |
| 1990 | 0.0014 |
| 2000 | 0.0011 |
| 2010 | 0.0012 |