ZBBnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun ZBB mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun ZBB. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
This word is used in U.S. English.
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 ZBB?
| 1970 | 0.096 |
| 1980 | 0.086 |
| 1990 | 0.086 |
| 2000 | 0.086 |
| 2010 | 0.088 |
Where does the noun ZBB come from?
Earliest known use
1970s
The earliest known use of the noun ZBB is in the 1970s.
OED's earliest evidence for ZBB is from 1976, in New York Times.
Nearby entries
- zarzuela, n.1888–
- zat, n.1934–
- zatch, n.1950–
- zawiya, n.1836–
- zawn, n.1865–
- zayat, n.1823–
- zayde, n.1946–
- zazen, n.1727–
- zazzy, adj.1961–
- Z band, n.1950–
- ZBB, n.1976–
- Z-bed, n.1973–
- Z-car, n.1961–
- Z-day, n.1925–
- Z-DNA, n.1979–
- ze, pron.1864–
- zea, n.1562–
- zeagonite, n.1823–
- zeal, n.a1382–
- zeal, v.1542–1687
- Zealander, n.¹1663–
Meaning & use
- 1976–Zero-base(d) budgeting.
- 1976
Z.B.B., as it is widely known, calls for the justification of all spending in relation to priorities.
New York Times 27 August d 1 - 1978
ZBB was formally delineated and put into practice for the first time by Texas Instruments, Inc., 15 years ago.
National Civic Review vol. LXVII. 132
- capital budgeting1918–The process of preparing a capital budget.
- asset management1932–The active management of assets in order to optimize return on investment.
- over-budgeting1933–The action of overbudget, v.
- wealth management1973–The management of wealth in order to get the optimal return on investment; (now) spec. the action, business, or practice of offering an…
- ZBB1976–Zero-base(d) budgeting.
Frequency
ZBB typically occurs about 0.09 times per million words in modern written English.
ZBB 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 of ZBB, n., 1970–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.096 |
| 1980 | 0.086 |
| 1990 | 0.086 |
| 2000 | 0.086 |
| 2010 | 0.088 |