zinc orangenoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zinc orange mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zinc orange. 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 orange?
| 1910 | 0.0016 |
| 1920 | 0.0015 |
| 1930 | 0.0013 |
| 1940 | 0.0012 |
| 1950 | 0.0012 |
| 1960 | 0.0005 |
| 1970 | 0.0004 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.00009 |
| 2010 | 0.00002 |
Where does the noun zinc orange come from?
Earliest known use
1910s
The earliest known use of the noun zinc orange is in the 1910s.
OED's earliest evidence for zinc orange is from 1918, in Annals of Missouri Botanical Garden.
Nearby entries
- zinckenite, n.1835–
- zinco, n.1887–
- zinco-, comb. form
- zincode, n.1839–
- zincograph, n.1888–
- zincograph, v.1865–
- zincographer, n.1839–
- zincographic, adj.1850–
- zincography, n.1834–
- zincoid, n.1842–
- zinc orange, n.1918–
- zincous, adj.1842–
- zinc-plate, n.1823–
- zinc-powder, n.1881–
- zinc roof, n.1883–
- zinc spar, n.1796–
- zinc-sponge, n.1902–
- zinc sulphide, n.1851–
- zinc white, n.1847–
- zincy, adj.1757–
- zinc yellow, n.1847–
Meaning & use
- 1918–A shade of orange.
- 1918
Gleba from pale ochraceous-salmon to zinc-orange.
Annals of Missouri Botanical Garden vol. 5 23 - 1934
122. Zinc orange.
Webster's New International Dictionary of English Language (Color Charts) - 1940
A [llomyces] macrogyna (Burma 3). Colour: Zinc orange.
Proceedings of Royal Society 1939–40 B. vol. 128 285 - 1952
Surfaces of Fine Paste Orange sherds range from Ferruginous..through Apricot Orange..to Zinc Orange.
P. Drucker, La Venta, Tabasco 103
- orange colour1512–The colour of a ripe orange; = orange, n.¹ A.II.4; (also) a pigment, dye, etc., of this colour. Also attributive or as adj.: = orange-coloured, adj.
- orange1557–A bright reddish-yellow colour like that of the skin of a ripe orange; any one of a number of shades occupying the region between red and yellow in…
- zinc orange1918–A shade of orange.
- honeydew1949–A pale yellowish-green colour resembling that of the flesh of a honeydew melon. Occasionally also: an orange colour. Cf. melon, n.¹ 1b.
Frequency
zinc orange typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zinc orange is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zinc orange, n., 1910–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910 | 0.0016 |
| 1920 | 0.0015 |
| 1930 | 0.0013 |
| 1940 | 0.0012 |
| 1950 | 0.0012 |
| 1960 | 0.0005 |
| 1970 | 0.0004 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.00009 |
| 2010 | 0.00002 |