zip code, n.

zip-code
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zip-code_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zip codenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zip code mean?

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

### How common is the noun zip code?

About 0.4occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 1.0
2018 | 1.1
2019 | 1.5
2020 | 1.8
2021 | 1.8
2022 | 1.5
2023 | 1.2
2024 | 1.2

### How is the noun zip code pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪp kəʊd/
ZIP kohd

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɪp ˌkoʊd/
ZIP kohd

### Where does the noun zip code come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zip code is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zip code is from 1962, in Chicago Daily Defender.

zip code is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: zip n.3, code n.

### Nearby entries

1. Zionless, adj. 1908
2. Zionward, adv. 1647–
3. Zionwards, adv. 1674–
4. zip, n.² & adj. 1900–
5. zip, n.³ 1962–
6. zip, n.⁴ 1968–
7. zip, v.¹ 1852–
8. zip, v.² 1964–
9. zip, int. & n.¹ 1678–
10. zip-a-dee-doo-dah, int. & adj. 1945–
11. zip code, n.1962–
12. zip-code, v. 1962–
13. zip-coded, adj. 1963–
14. zip-coding, n. 1964–
15. zip coon, n. 1833–
16. zip cuff, n. 1995–
17. zip cuff, v. 1996–
18. Zipf, n. 1936–
19. zip fastener, n. 1925–
20. zip fastening, n. & adj. 1925–
21. zip gun, n. 1914–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding.
< zip n.3 + code n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1.
   1962–
   In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. Cf. postcode n.
   Five-digit zip codes were first used in 1963; in 1983 an optional four-digit extension to these, further specifying the location, was introduced.
   1. 1962

      > The Zip code is tailored for use in electronic data processing equipment capable of handling mail addressing and processing at great speed.

      Chicago Daily Defender 29 November 2/4
   2. 1967

      > An optical scanner..may eliminate the sorting machines by ‘reading’ the zip code on the letter and dispatching it accordingly.

      Boston Sunday Herald 26 March iv. 3/8
   3. 1975

      > In ordering a change of address, subscribers should give four weeks' notice, providing both old and new addresses, with Zip Codes.

      New Yorker 5 May 2 (advertisement)
   4. 1980

      > The Postal Board of Governors..withheld final approval of a controversial plan to expand ZIP codes to nine digits.

      Christian Science Monitor 4 December (Midwestern edition) 2/2
   5. 2000

      > Punch in your zip code for local weather, or get a heads up on storms brewing elsewhere.

      Time Digital August 58/4
   1. postal code 1959–
      = postcode, n.
   2. zip 1962–
      In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the…
   3. zip code 1962–
      In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the…
   4. postcode 1967–
      A group of letters or numbers, or both, added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. Later also: the area designated…
   View in Historical Thesaurus
2. 2.
   1966–
   U.S. An area designated by a zip code. Frequently (and in earliest use) figurative and in extended use, indicating a large area.
   1. 1966

      > Sandy Koufax was hard put to keep a ball in the same Zip Code as the plate.

      News-Herald (West Lake County, Ohio) 25 March 10/2
   2. 1989

      > When young influentials take over a zip code, they aren't iffy about it.

      Atlanta October 96/2
   3. 1991

      > In no other major American city do residents of one neighborhood read different stories than their fellow citizens a couple of zip codes over.

      D. Rieff, Los Angeles ii. viii. 137
   4. 2007

      > I like to think I'm analytical, but I'm not in the same ZIP code as Steve.

      New York Times (National edition) 28 January iii. 8/3
   U.S. English

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪp kəʊd/
ZIP kohd

### U.S. English

/ˈzɪp ˌkoʊd/
ZIP kohd

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

See zip n.3 and code n.

## Frequency

zip code typically occurs about 0.4 times per million words in modern written English.

zip code is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 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 zip code, n., 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.21
1970 | 0.3
1980 | 0.35
1990 | 0.44
2000 | 0.5
2010 | 0.54

### Frequency of zip code, n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

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 corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 1.0
2018 | 1.1
2019 | 1.5
2020 | 1.8
2021 | 1.8
2022 | 1.5
2023 | 1.2
2024 | 1.2

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zip-code, v. 1962–
   transitive. To mark (an item of mail) with a zip…

1. 1979–
   U.S. As a modifier, designating something influenced or determined by a person's locality or postal address, chiefly with reference to the unequal provision of healthcare, education, etc.; esp. in figurative phrase zip code lottery; cf. postcode n. Compounds.
   1. 1979

      > It is our contention that ZIP code discrimination..has the practical effect of discriminating on the basis of race, given the essentially segregated nature of housing in Atlanta.

      Credit Card Redlining: Hearings before Subcomm. on Consumer Affairs (U.S. Senate, 96th Congr., 1st Sess.) 21
   2. 2000

      > You lost the ZIP code lottery and now your chances of dying are three times higher because you were born here.

      New York Times 17 July b5/4
   3. 2017

      > Students are essentially forced to play a zip code lottery that determines whether they learn in a classroom equipped with an iPad for every student or one where students share decades-old textbooks.

      Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 13 May
   U.S. English

Originally published as part of the entry for zip, n.³

zip code, n. was revised in March 2021.

zip code, n. was last modified in June 2025.