zinc-iron, n. & adj.

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

# zinc-ironnoun & adjective

## Factsheet

### What does the word zinc-iron mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word zinc-iron. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 word zinc-iron?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.0027
1850 | 0.003
1860 | 0.0035
1870 | 0.0047
1880 | 0.0059
1890 | 0.0076
1900 | 0.0096
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.013
1930 | 0.013
1940 | 0.012
1950 | 0.01
1960 | 0.0087
1970 | 0.0069
1980 | 0.0051
1990 | 0.0038
2000 | 0.0031
2010 | 0.0032

### Where does the word zinc-iron come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the word zinc-iron is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zinc-iron is from 1849, in the writing of Henry Minchin Noad, electrician.

### Nearby entries

1. zinc-dust, n. 1877–
2. zinc finger, n. 1987–
3. zinc-foil, n. 1851–
4. zinc green, n. 1847–
5. zinc-grey | zinc-gray, n. 1881–
6. zincian, adj. 1930–
7. zincic, adj. 1860–
8. zinciferous, adj. 1820–
9. zincification, n. 1891–
10. zincify, v. 1801–
11. zinc-iron, n. & adj.1849–
12. zincite, n. 1854–
13. zinckenite, n. 1835–
14. zinco, n. 1887–
15. zinco-, comb. form
16. zincode, n. 1839–
17. zincograph, n. 1888–
18. zincograph, v. 1865–
19. zincographer, n. 1839–
20. zincographic, adj. 1850–
21. zincography, n. 1834–

## Meaning & use

1. 1849–
   a. n. An alloy of zinc and iron; b. adj. consisting of zinc and iron.
   1. 1849

      > The zinc-iron circuit.

      H. M. Noad, Lectures Electr. (ed. 3) 177
   2. 1868

      > Kreittonnite, or Zinc-Iron Gahnite.

      J. D. Dana, System of Mineralogy (ed. 5) 149
   metal industry
   1. white metal 1710–
      Made of white metal. Also: coated or lined with white metal (cf. white-metalled, adj.).
   2. zinc-iron 1849–
      a. n. An alloy of zinc and iron; b. adj. consisting of zinc and iron.
   3. nickel–iron 1891–
      Consisting of or containing an alloy of nickel and iron.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zinc-iron 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 zinc-iron, n. & adj., 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 | 0.0027
1850 | 0.003
1860 | 0.0035
1870 | 0.0047
1880 | 0.0059
1890 | 0.0076
1900 | 0.0096
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.013
1930 | 0.013
1940 | 0.012
1950 | 0.01
1960 | 0.0087
1970 | 0.0069
1980 | 0.0051
1990 | 0.0038
2000 | 0.0031
2010 | 0.0032

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

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