zinc orange, n.

zinc-orange
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zinc-orange_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# 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?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

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

1. zinckenite, n. 1835–
2. zinco, n. 1887–
3. zinco-, comb. form
4. zincode, n. 1839–
5. zincograph, n. 1888–
6. zincograph, v. 1865–
7. zincographer, n. 1839–
8. zincographic, adj. 1850–
9. zincography, n. 1834–
10. zincoid, n. 1842–
11. zinc orange, n.1918–
12. zincous, adj. 1842–
13. zinc-plate, n. 1823–
14. zinc-powder, n. 1881–
15. zinc roof, n. 1883–
16. zinc spar, n. 1796–
17. zinc-sponge, n. 1902–
18. zinc sulphide, n. 1851–
19. zinc white, n. 1847–
20. zincy, adj. 1757–
21. zinc yellow, n. 1847–

## Meaning & use

1. 1918–
   A shade of orange.
   1. 1918

      > Gleba from pale ochraceous-salmon to zinc-orange.

      Annals of Missouri Botanical Garden vol. 5 23
   2. 1934

      > 122. Zinc orange.

      Webster's New International Dictionary of English Language (Color Charts)
   3. 1940

      > A [llomyces] macrogyna (Burma 3). Colour: Zinc orange.

      Proceedings of Royal Society 1939–40 B. vol. 128 285
   4. 1952

      > Surfaces of Fine Paste Orange sherds range from Ferruginous..through Apricot Orange..to Zinc Orange.

      P. Drucker, La Venta, Tabasco 103
   1. orange colour 1512–
      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.
   2. orange 1557–
      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…
   3. zinc orange 1918–
      A shade of orange.
   4. honeydew 1949–
      A pale yellowish-green colour resembling that of the flesh of a honeydew melon. Occasionally also: an orange colour. Cf. melon, n.¹ 1b.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### 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

Originally published as part of the entry for zinc, n.

zinc, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.