zinc green, n.

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

# zinc greennoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zinc green mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zinc green. 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 green?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1850 | 0.0004
1860 | 0.0005
1870 | 0.0014
1880 | 0.002
1890 | 0.0022
1900 | 0.0024
1910 | 0.0027
1920 | 0.003
1930 | 0.003
1940 | 0.0023
1950 | 0.0015
1960 | 0.0013
1970 | 0.0011
1980 | 0.0007
1990 | 0.0005
2000 | 0.0004
2010 | 0.0004

### Where does the noun zinc green come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zinc green is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zinc green is from 1847, in British Pat. 11,616.

### Nearby entries

1. zinc-amide, n. 1859–
2. zincate, n. 1872–
3. zinc-blende, n. 1842–
4. zinc-bloom, n. 1842–
5. zinc chloride, n. 1851–
6. zinc chromate, n. 1851–
7. zinc chrome, n. 1892–
8. zinc-dust, n. 1877–
9. zinc finger, n. 1987–
10. zinc-foil, n. 1851–
11. zinc green, n.1847–
12. zinc-grey | zinc-gray, n. 1881–
13. zincian, adj. 1930–
14. zincic, adj. 1860–
15. zinciferous, adj. 1820–
16. zincification, n. 1891–
17. zincify, v. 1801–
18. zinc-iron, n. & adj. 1849–
19. zincite, n. 1854–
20. zinckenite, n. 1835–
21. zinco, n. 1887–

## Meaning & use

1. 1847–
   A mixture of zinc and cobalt oxides used as a pigment.
   1. 1847

      > Processes for manufacturing on a large scale zinc yellow..and zinc green.

      British Pat. 11,616 5
   2. 1973

      > Much of the zinc yellow manufactured was mixed with Prussian blue to make various shades of a permanent zinc green.

      E. Lalor in T. C. Patton, Pigment Handbook vol. I. 850/1
   1. green 1582–
      A green pigment or dye.
   2. zinc green 1847–
      A mixture of zinc and cobalt oxides used as a pigment.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zinc green typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zinc green 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 green, n., 1850–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1850 | 0.0004
1860 | 0.0005
1870 | 0.0014
1880 | 0.002
1890 | 0.0022
1900 | 0.0024
1910 | 0.0027
1920 | 0.003
1930 | 0.003
1940 | 0.0023
1950 | 0.0015
1960 | 0.0013
1970 | 0.0011
1980 | 0.0007
1990 | 0.0005
2000 | 0.0004
2010 | 0.0004

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

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