zipnoun3
Factsheet
What does the noun zip mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zip. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zip?
| 1960 | 0.011 |
| 1970 | 0.013 |
| 1980 | 0.014 |
| 1990 | 0.014 |
| 2000 | 0.016 |
| 2010 | 0.018 |
How is the noun zip pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zip come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the noun zip is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for zip is from 1962, in Chicago Daily Defender.
It is also recorded as an exclamation from the late 1600s.
zip is formed within English, as an acronym.
Etymons: English Zone Improvement Plan, Zoning Improvement Plan.
Nearby entries
- Zion Curtain, n.1951–
- Zioner, n.1681–1760
- Zionism, n.1896–
- Zionist, n. & adj.a1649–
- Zionistic, adj.1887–
- Zionite, n.1596–
- Zionless, adj.1908
- Zionward, adv.1647–
- Zionwards, adv.1674–
- zip, n.² & adj.1900–
- zip, n.³1962–
- zip, n.⁴1968–
- zip, v.¹1852–
- zip, v.²1964–
- zip, int. & n.¹1678–
- zip-a-dee-doo-dah, int. & adj.1945–
- zip code, n.1962–
- zip-code, v.1962–
- zip-coded, adj.1963–
- zip-coding, n.1964–
- zip coon, n.1833–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1962–In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail; = zip code n. 1. Cf. postcode n.Five-digit zip codes were first used in 1963; in 1983 an optional four-digit extension to these, further specifying the location, was introduced.
- 1962
Speedier delivery will be made possible by a zone improvement plan code called Zip, designed for use by the nation's large volume mailers.
Chicago Daily Defender 29 November 2/4 - 1969
Once a person has miswritten the zip, the computer just misdirects the mail.
Computers & Humanities vol. 4 69 - 1977
A 13-cent U.S. commemorative honoring 50 years of talking pictures will go on sale Thursday in Hollywood, Cal., where the postmaster Zip is 90028.
Chicago Tribune 2 October vi. 26/4 - 1999
‘What's the zip?’ ‘Nine oh oh four eight. Couple of blocks from Chasen's.’
E. Leonard, Be Cool (2005) i. 5
- postal code1959–= postcode, n.
- zip1962–In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the…
- zip code1962–In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the…
- postcode1967–A group of letters or numbers, or both, added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. Later also: the area designated…
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Forms
Variant forms
- 1900s–ZIP, Z.I.P., Zip
Frequency
zip typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zip 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 of zip, n.³, 1960–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.011 |
| 1970 | 0.013 |
| 1980 | 0.014 |
| 1990 | 0.014 |
| 2000 | 0.016 |
| 2010 | 0.018 |
Compounds & derived words
- zip code, n. 1962–In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code…