zerothadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zeroth mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zeroth. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zeroth?
| 1860 | 0.0002 |
| 1870 | 0.0002 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0016 |
| 1910 | 0.0069 |
| 1920 | 0.017 |
| 1930 | 0.043 |
| 1940 | 0.086 |
| 1950 | 0.14 |
| 1960 | 0.19 |
| 1970 | 0.23 |
| 1980 | 0.24 |
| 1990 | 0.23 |
| 2000 | 0.22 |
| 2010 | 0.2 |
How is the adjective zeroth pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adjective zeroth come from?
Earliest known use
1850s
The earliest known use of the adjective zeroth is in the 1850s.
OED's earliest evidence for zeroth is from 1850, in the writing of J. Paterson.
zeroth is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zero n., ‑th suffix2.
Nearby entries
- zero point, n.1789–
- zero-point energy, n.1913–
- zero population growth, n.1955–
- zero post, n.1908–
- zero-power, adj.1950–
- zero-rate, v.1972–
- zero-rated, adj.1972–
- zero rating, n.1971–
- zero sound, n.1957–
- zero-sum, adj.1944–
- zeroth, adj.1850–
- zero tillage, n.1963–
- zero tolerance, n.1940–
- zerovalent, adj.1906–
- zero waste, adj. & n.1974–
- zero-zero, adj. & n.1930–
- zerumbet, n.1640–
- zest, n.¹1674–
- zest, n.²1706
- zest, v.1702–
- zest, int.1705–22
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1850–Of an item in a series: coming before the item conventionally regarded as the first.Typically applied to items in a sequence which are regarded as preliminary or representing an initial stage, condition, etc., of something.
- 1850
We have constructed the following table..by multiplying Aɸ''' by 3, 6 and 2 respectively for power of the second, first and zeroth order.
J. Paterson, Calculus of Operations v. 93 - 1896
In order to have the zeroth Bessel normal function, we need only let the conductance and permittance per unit length of cable both vary directly as the distance from x = 0.
Electrician 10 January 350/2 - 1932
The zeroth order wave functions which they use do indeed indicate that tetrahedral symmetry should give high stability.
Physical Review vol. 40 56 - 1976
In this zeroth part, our topic is the notion of number.
J. H. Conway, On Numbers & Games 0. 3 - 2010
So we start with the zeroth derivative, the location of the missile.
S.–T. Yan & S. Nadis, Shape Inner Space v. 112
the world relative properties number mathematical number or quantity numerical arrangement [adjectives] of sets of sequences series- intermediate1648–Coming or occurring between two things, places, etc.; ‘holding the middle place or degree between two… In serial order, e.g. of numbers, or in…
- converging1728–Mathematics. Applied to an infinite series of terms or numbers, the sum of which, beginning with the first, continually approximates towards a…
- convergent1816–Mathematics. = converging, adj. 2, as in convergent series. convergent fractions n. see B
- zeroth1850–Of an item in a series: coming before the item conventionally regarded as the first.
- tactical1864–Mathematics. Of or pertaining to tactic, n.¹ (sense 3): opposed to logistical, adj.
- oscillatory1893–Mathematics. = oscillating, adj. 3.
- termwise1903–Designating a mathematical operation performed term by term (see term, n. IV.14c, IV.14b.i).
- sociable1964–Mathematics. Designating a cycle of three or more integers such that each is the sum of the factors of the previous one. Cf. amicable number, n., pe…
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
- 1800s–zeroth
- 1900s–zero'th (rare)
Frequency
zeroth typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.
zeroth 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 zeroth, adj., 1860–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 0.0002 |
| 1870 | 0.0002 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0016 |
| 1910 | 0.0069 |
| 1920 | 0.017 |
| 1930 | 0.043 |
| 1940 | 0.086 |
| 1950 | 0.14 |
| 1960 | 0.19 |
| 1970 | 0.23 |
| 1980 | 0.24 |
| 1990 | 0.23 |
| 2000 | 0.22 |
| 2010 | 0.2 |