zero-order, adj.

zero-order
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-order_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2017

# zero-orderadjective

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zero-order mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective zero-order. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the adjective zero-order?

About 0.3occurrences per million words in modern written English

1910 | 0.024
1920 | 0.038
1930 | 0.071
1940 | 0.14
1950 | 0.21
1960 | 0.26
1970 | 0.3
1980 | 0.3
1990 | 0.27
2000 | 0.24
2010 | 0.21

### Where does the adjective zero-order come from?

Earliest known use

1910s

The earliest known use of the adjective zero-order is in the 1910s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero-order is from 1919, in Public Health Report.

### Nearby entries

1. zero-hours, adj. 1988–
2. zeroing, n. 1906–
3. zeroize, v. 1894–
4. zero-length, adj. 1945–
5. zero-line, n. 1834–
6. zero magnet, n. 1890–
7. zero mark, n. 1821–
8. zero meridian, n. 1849–
9. zero norm, n. 1966–
10. zero option, n. 1976–
11. zero-order, adj.1919–
12. zero plane, n. 1842–
13. zero point, n. 1789–
14. zero-point energy, n. 1913–
15. zero population growth, n. 1955–
16. zero post, n. 1908–
17. zero-power, adj. 1950–
18. zero-rate, v. 1972–
19. zero-rated, adj. 1972–
20. zero rating, n. 1971–
21. zero sound, n. 1957–

## Meaning & use

1. 1919–
   a. Statistics designating the degree of correlation between two variables when no other variables are held constant; (also) of or relating to this; b. Chemistry designating a chemical reaction in which the rate of reaction is constant and (apparently) independent of the concentration of the reactant; (also) designating an equation modelling such a reaction.
   1. 1919

      > The zero order coefficients were all determined by the direct product-moment method, without the formation of correlation tables.

      Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) vol. 34 1773
   2. 1926

      > When small amounts of solid are used, the reaction is better represented by a ‘zero’ order than by a first-order equation.

      American Chem. Society vol. 48 2860
   3. 1929

      > The correlation between score and experience when the factor of age is kept constant is seen to be slightly higher than the zero order correlation.

      Journal Educ. Research vol. 19 316/2
   4. 1978

      > This means that changing the concentration of X will not affect the rate of a reaction which is zero order with respect to X.

      G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman, Chemistry in Context xxiii. 359
   5. 2012

      > For a zero-order reaction, the rate is constant.

      S. A. Zumdahl & S. S. Zumdahl, Chemistry xii. 544
   6. 2012

      > The zero-order correlation between this measure of Allport's optimal conditions and secular volunteering is higher..than the correlation for mainline respondents.

      E. M. Uslaner, Segregation & Mistrust vii. 182
   statistics chemistry

## Frequency

zero-order typically occurs about 0.3 times per million words in modern written English.

zero-order 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zero-order, adj., 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 | 0.024
1920 | 0.038
1930 | 0.071
1940 | 0.14
1950 | 0.21
1960 | 0.26
1970 | 0.3
1980 | 0.3
1990 | 0.27
2000 | 0.24
2010 | 0.21

Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.

zero-order, adj. was first published in 2017.