zero beat, n.

zero-beat
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-beat_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zero beatnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero beat mean?

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

### How common is the noun zero beat?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1920 | 0.044
1930 | 0.04
1940 | 0.036
1950 | 0.033
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.022
1980 | 0.015
1990 | 0.01
2000 | 0.0075
2010 | 0.0049

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

Earliest known use

1920s

The earliest known use of the noun zero beat is in the 1920s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero beat is from 1920, in the writing of H. J. Van der Bijl.

### Nearby entries

1. zepto-, comb. form
2. zeranol, n. 1971–
3. zerda, n. 1780–1860
4. zerk, n. 1926–
5. zero, n. & adj. 1604–
6. zero, v. 1813–
7. zeroable, adj. 1956–
8. zero balance, adj. 1974–
9. zero-base, adj. 1962–
10. zero-based, adj. 1963–
11. zero beat, n.1920–
12. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
13. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
14. zero creep, n. 1904–
15. zero crossing, n. 1941–
16. zero day, n. 1917–
17. zero-defect, adj. 1964–
18. zero derivation, n. 1960–
19. zero derivative, adj. & n. 1948–
20. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
21. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–

## Meaning & use

1. 1920–
   a. Radio a method of reception in which the incoming signal is mixed with a receiver-generated oscillation of the same frequency as the carrier wave, so that no beats (beat n.1 II.9) are produced; cf. homodyne n.; b. (Physics) a condition or arrangement in which two oscillating signals have equal frequencies, or in which the harmonics of one signal form harmonic intervals with those of the other, producing no beats.
   Often attributive.
   1. 1920

      > In these experiments the waves were received by the zero beat method.

      H. J. Van der Bijl, Thermionic Vacuum Tube ix. 364
   2. 1928

      > If the local generated frequency is tuned to exactly the same frequency as the received signals..the condition of ‘zero beat’ is said to exist.

      G. E. Sterling & R. S. Kruse, Radio Manual iv. 149
   3. 1960

      > Suppose we try to tune two strings so that they are an octave apart by adjusting them to ‘zero beat’ while playing them softly.

      A. H. Benade, Horns, Strings, & Harmony vi. 130
   4. 1982

      > With this arrangement, one can explore the zero-beat situation (when frequencies are matched) as well as a variety of non-zero-beat situations.

      American Journal of Physics vol. 50 137/1
   5. 2015

      > Tune the Cub to zero beat on the receiver while transmitting a signal.

      J. Purdum & D. Kidder, Arduino Projects Amateur Radio xv. 344
   physics radio
   1. zero beat 1920–
      a. Radio a method of reception in which the incoming signal is mixed with a receiver-generated oscillation of the same frequency as the carrier…
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zero beat 1920–
      a. Radio a method of reception in which the incoming signal is mixed with a receiver-generated oscillation of the same frequency as the carrier…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zero beat 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 beat, n., 1920–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1920 | 0.044
1930 | 0.04
1940 | 0.036
1950 | 0.033
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.022
1980 | 0.015
1990 | 0.01
2000 | 0.0075
2010 | 0.0049

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

zero, n. & adj. was revised in June 2018.