zero meridian, n.

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

# zero meridiannoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero meridian mean?

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

### How common is the noun zero meridian?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1860 | 0.0044
1870 | 0.0059
1880 | 0.0062
1890 | 0.0065
1900 | 0.0075
1910 | 0.01
1920 | 0.011
1930 | 0.011
1940 | 0.011
1950 | 0.011
1960 | 0.011
1970 | 0.011
1980 | 0.01
1990 | 0.0097
2000 | 0.009
2010 | 0.0088

### Where does the noun zero meridian come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zero meridian is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero meridian is from 1849, in the writing of H. N. Robinson.

### Nearby entries

1. zero grazing, n. 1954–
2. zero growth, n. 1907–
3. zero hour, n. 1915–
4. zero-hours, adj. 1988–
5. zeroing, n. 1906–
6. zeroize, v. 1894–
7. zero-length, adj. 1945–
8. zero-line, n. 1834–
9. zero magnet, n. 1890–
10. zero mark, n. 1821–
11. zero meridian, n.1849–
12. zero norm, n. 1966–
13. zero option, n. 1976–
14. zero-order, adj. 1919–
15. zero plane, n. 1842–
16. zero point, n. 1789–
17. zero-point energy, n. 1913–
18. zero population growth, n. 1955–
19. zero post, n. 1908–
20. zero-power, adj. 1950–
21. zero-rate, v. 1972–

## Meaning & use

1. 1849–
   a. A meridian representing the zero of longitude; esp. the prime meridian through Greenwich; b. (Astronomy) the meridian through the first point of Aries, from which right ascension is measured (cf. first point of Aries n. at point n.1 Phrases P.5a).
   1. 1849

      > Astronomers have agreed to take that meridian for the zero meridian, which passes through the sun's center the instant the sun comes to the celestial equator, in the spring.

      H. N. Robinson, Treat. Astronomy i. iii. 31
   2. 1939

      > The reckoning always starting from the equator for latitude, and for longitude from zero meridian which may differ in different countries.

      E. D. Laborde, translation of E. de Martonne, Shorter Physical Geography (revised edition) 5
   3. 2000

      > The On the Line partnership..is an educational programme to help children learn about other people living along the zero meridian.

      CEEmail Summer 12/3
   astronomy
   1. prime meridian a1703–
      The meridian from which longitude on the earth's surface (and hence time zones) is reckoned.
   2. Greenwich meridian 1715–
      The prime meridian passing through Greenwich.
   3. zero meridian 1849–
      a. A meridian representing the zero of longitude; esp. the prime meridian through Greenwich; b. (Astronomy) the meridian through the first point of…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zero meridian typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zero meridian is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 meridian, n., 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 | 0.0044
1870 | 0.0059
1880 | 0.0062
1890 | 0.0065
1900 | 0.0075
1910 | 0.01
1920 | 0.011
1930 | 0.011
1940 | 0.011
1950 | 0.011
1960 | 0.011
1970 | 0.011
1980 | 0.01
1990 | 0.0097
2000 | 0.009
2010 | 0.0088

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

zero meridian, n. was first published in 2017.