zero derivative, adj. & n.

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

# zero derivativeadjective & noun

## Factsheet

### What does the word zero derivative mean?

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

### How common is the word zero derivative?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1940 | 0.0037
1950 | 0.0039
1960 | 0.004
1970 | 0.0041
1980 | 0.0044
1990 | 0.0045
2000 | 0.0045
2010 | 0.0045

### Where does the word zero derivative come from?

Earliest known use

1940s

The earliest known use of the word zero derivative is in the 1940s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero derivative is from 1948, in Language.

### Nearby entries

1. zero-base, adj. 1962–
2. zero-based, adj. 1963–
3. zero beat, n. 1920–
4. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
5. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
6. zero creep, n. 1904–
7. zero crossing, n. 1941–
8. zero day, n. 1917–
9. zero-defect, adj. 1964–
10. zero derivation, n. 1960–
11. zero derivative, adj. & n.1948–
12. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
13. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–
14. zero-emission, n. & adj. 1952–
15. zero-energy, adj. 1947–
16. zero-field, adj. 1915–
17. zero-G, adj. & n. 1950–
18. zero grade, n. 1888–
19. zero gravity, n. & adj. 1915–
20. zero-graze, v. 1954–
21. zero-grazed, adj. 1958–

## Meaning & use

Linguistics.

1. 1948–
   a. adj. Designating a derivative in which the form of the original word is not altered; that marks such a derivative; b. n. a derivative in which the form of the original word is not altered.
   See note at zero derivation n.
   1. 1948

      > We cannot say that song /soŋ/ is an alternant of sing /siŋ/ with the addition of a zero derivative suffix.

      Language vol. 24 427
   2. 1960

      > There are quite a few vbs with French roots for which no French verbs are recorded and which may accordingly be treated as zero derivatives: feeble vb.., master vb, [etc.].

      H. Marchand, Categories Present-day English Word-formation v. 297
   3. 1976

      > I believe..that act (noun) must be regarded as zero-derivative (actØ) from the corresponding verb.

      Archivum Linguisticum vol. 7 133
   4. 1999

      > As far as the arrangement of derivatives, including zero-derivatives, is concerned, the principle..is to include all derivatives of a particular simple word in the entry for that word.

      A. P. Cowie, English Dictionary Foreign Learners i. 34
   philology
   1. zero derivative 1948–
      a. adj. Designating a derivative in which the form of the original word is not altered; that marks such a derivative; b. n. a derivative in which…
   2. zero-derived 1971–
      (Of a word) having a form unaltered from that of the word of which it is a derivative.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zero derivative 1948–
      a. adj. Designating a derivative in which the form of the original word is not altered; that marks such a derivative; b. n. a derivative in which…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zero derivative typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zero derivative is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 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 derivative, adj. & n., 1940–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1940 | 0.0037
1950 | 0.0039
1960 | 0.004
1970 | 0.0041
1980 | 0.0044
1990 | 0.0045
2000 | 0.0045
2010 | 0.0045

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

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