zoom lensnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zoom lens mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoom lens. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zoom lens?
| 1930 | 0.0048 |
| 1940 | 0.025 |
| 1950 | 0.07 |
| 1960 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 0.16 |
| 1980 | 0.21 |
| 1990 | 0.25 |
| 2000 | 0.26 |
| 2010 | 0.26 |
Where does the noun zoom lens come from?
Earliest known use
1930s
The earliest known use of the noun zoom lens is in the 1930s.
OED's earliest evidence for zoom lens is from 1932, in Laredo (Texas) Times.
Nearby entries
- zoomania, n.1807–
- zoomantist, n.1861
- Zoomar, n.1946–
- zoomechanical, adj.1897
- zoomechanics, n.1888–1903
- zoomelanin, n.1858–
- zoometric, adj.1892–
- zoometry, n.1878–
- zooming, n.1892–
- zooming, adj.1904–
- zoom lens, n.1932–
- zoomorph, n.1883–
- zoomorphic, adj.1849–
- zoomorphism, n.1822–
- zoomorphize, v.1940–
- zoomorphizing, n.1895–
- zoomorphosed, adj.1955–
- zoom shot, n.1930–
- zoomy, adj.1931–
- zoomythic, adj.1889–
- zoon, n.1851–1905
Meaning & use
- 1932–A camera lens or lens assembly whose focal length (and hence the magnification and the field of view) can be smoothly varied, typically while keeping the image in focus (cf. varifocal adj. a).
- 1932
This lens, called a ‘zoom lens’, is an interconnected series of lens elements which permit changing magnifying power of the lens.
Laredo (Texas) Times 27 June 1/7 - 1962
A zoom lens, one that would change its focal length.
L. Deighton, Ipcress File xxiv. 154 - 1978
The drifting began. Like a huge, long pull-back on a zoom lens so that everything diminished.
J. Gardner, Dancing Dodo xix. 146 - 2008
Use the telephoto end of your zoom lens.
Sporting Shooter November 102/1
society leisure the arts visual arts photography camera parts and accessories of camera [nouns] lens types of- telescopic lens1765–A magnifying lens; (in later use) spec. a telephoto camera lens; cf. telephoto, adj. A.1; also figurative.
- portrait lens1852–A compound photographic lens adapted for taking portraits, usually having a long focal length in relation to the size of the negative or plate.
- view lens1852–A lens designed for use in photographing landscapes, esp. one capable of maintaining focus over the whole of the field of view.
- short-focus lens1862–A focal point that is near to the lens; chiefly attributive, esp. in short-focus lens, spec., a photographic lens whose focal length is less than the…
- periscope1865–90Photography. A kind of periscopic objective lens. Cf. periscopic, adj. 1. Obsolete.
- rectilinear1867–Photography. A rectilinear lens. Frequently in rapid rectilinear.
- pantoscope1868–94A very wide-angled photographic lens. Also figurative. Obsolete.
- wide-angle1868–A wide-angle lens.
- long lens1876–A lens with a long focal length, esp. as a camera attachment for taking photographs or filming from a great distance. Frequently attributive.
- apochromatic1887–Epithet of an improved form of achromatic lens invented by Abbe. Also as n.: an apochromatic lens; in Photography further shortened to ˈapochroˌmat n.…
- anastigmat1890–An anastigmatic lens or system of lenses.
- concentric lens1890–A compound lens consisting of planoconvex and planoconcave lenses of such dimensions that the convex and concave surfaces of the combined lens…
- euryscope1890–A rapid rectilinear photographic lens of wide aperture.
- landscape lens1890–A lens used in photographing landscape.
- rectigraph1890–A lens or system of lenses that is corrected for aberration so as to reproduce straight lines and parallel lines correctly. Also rectigraph lens. Cf…
- symmetrical1890–Photography. Applied to a lens of symmetrical form; also elliptical as n. = symmetrical lens.
- concentric1893–Photography. = concentric lens, n. rare.
- telelens1893–= telephoto lens at telephoto, adj. A.1.
- telephoto1894–A telephoto lens; a camera equipped with such a lens.
- monocle1897–Photography. A simple, uncorrected lens, used to achieve soft focus, or (as a supplementary lens) to change focal length or add colour. Now chiefly…
- stigmat1901–A stigmatic lens or combination of lenses: see stigmatic, adj. A.9.
- stigmatic1902–Photography. A stigmatic lens or objective.
- Long Tom1910–Photography slang. A high-powered telephoto camera lens. Also attributive, as Long Tom camera, Long Tom lens, etc.
- standard lens1917–A camera lens with a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal of the negative, giving a field of view similar to that of the naked eye.
- zoom lens1932–A camera lens or lens assembly whose focal length (and hence the magnification and the field of view) can be smoothly varied, typically while…
- Panavision1955–A proprietary name for: a type of anamorphic lens producing a widescreen image. More generally: widescreen cinematography. Frequently attributive…
- prime lens1959–A lens with a fixed focal length; cf. zoom lens, n.
- teleconverter1959–A lens attachment which enables a camera to take detailed photographs of distant objects by increasing its effective focal length; cf. telephoto, n.¹…
- macro lens1961–A lens suitable for taking photographs unusually close to the subject.
- zoom1969–Cinematography and Photography. A zoom lens.
- fish-eye1971–Photography and Optics. A convex camera lens with a very wide field of view that produces imagery with pronounced barrel distortion. Cf. sense B.2.
- macro1971–= macro lens, n.¹
Frequency
zoom lens typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.
zoom lens is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zoom lens, n., 1930–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1930 | 0.0048 |
| 1940 | 0.025 |
| 1950 | 0.07 |
| 1960 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 0.16 |
| 1980 | 0.21 |
| 1990 | 0.25 |
| 2000 | 0.26 |
| 2010 | 0.26 |
Frequency of zoom lens, 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 | 0.29 |
| 2018 | 0.29 |
| 2019 | 0.29 |
| 2020 | 0.29 |
| 2021 | 0.28 |
| 2022 | 0.25 |
| 2023 | 0.24 |
| 2024 | 0.22 |