zero plane, n.

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

# zero planenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero plane mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zero plane. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zero plane?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.0014
1850 | 0.0018
1860 | 0.0017
1870 | 0.0019
1880 | 0.0024
1890 | 0.0027
1900 | 0.0032
1910 | 0.0038
1920 | 0.0046
1930 | 0.0068
1940 | 0.0084
1950 | 0.0095
1960 | 0.01
1970 | 0.011
1980 | 0.011
1990 | 0.011
2000 | 0.01
2010 | 0.009

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

Earliest known use

1840s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zero plane is from 1842, in Cambridge Mathematical Journal.

### Nearby entries

1. zeroing, n. 1906–
2. zeroize, v. 1894–
3. zero-length, adj. 1945–
4. zero-line, n. 1834–
5. zero magnet, n. 1890–
6. zero mark, n. 1821–
7. zero meridian, n. 1849–
8. zero norm, n. 1966–
9. zero option, n. 1976–
10. zero-order, adj. 1919–
11. zero plane, n.1842–
12. zero point, n. 1789–
13. zero-point energy, n. 1913–
14. zero population growth, n. 1955–
15. zero post, n. 1908–
16. zero-power, adj. 1950–
17. zero-rate, v. 1972–
18. zero-rated, adj. 1972–
19. zero rating, n. 1971–
20. zero sound, n. 1957–
21. zero-sum, adj. 1944–

## Meaning & use

1. 1842–
   A plane (plane n.3 1a) from or against which measurements or comparisons are made.
   1. 1842

      > Where v is the temperature at the time t, of a point at the distance x from a fixed plane, which, for brevity, may be called the zero plane.

      Cambridge Mathematical Journal vol. 3 170
   2. 1880

      > The zero plane is the surface of the ellipsoid similar to the sea surface.

      S. Haughton, Six Lectures on Physical Geography ii. 51
   3. 2015

      > Two coronal and two horizontal zero planes are used as reference planes in these drawings.

      G. Paxinos & C. Watson, Rat Brain Stereotactic Coordinates (ed. 7) p. xii/1

## Frequency

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

zero plane 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 plane, n., 1840–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1840 | 0.0014
1850 | 0.0018
1860 | 0.0017
1870 | 0.0019
1880 | 0.0024
1890 | 0.0027
1900 | 0.0032
1910 | 0.0038
1920 | 0.0046
1930 | 0.0068
1940 | 0.0084
1950 | 0.0095
1960 | 0.01
1970 | 0.011
1980 | 0.011
1990 | 0.011
2000 | 0.01
2010 | 0.009

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

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