zebra marking, n.

zebra-marking
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zebra-marking_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zebra markingnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zebra marking mean?

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

### How common is the noun zebra marking?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1860 | 0.0008
1870 | 0.0012
1880 | 0.0013
1890 | 0.0013
1900 | 0.0016
1910 | 0.0018
1920 | 0.0019
1930 | 0.0019
1940 | 0.0018
1950 | 0.0017
1960 | 0.0016
1970 | 0.0014
1980 | 0.0014
1990 | 0.0014
2000 | 0.0013
2010 | 0.0012

### Where does the noun zebra marking come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zebra marking is in the 1850s.

OED's earliest evidence for zebra marking is from 1854, in Florist & Hort. Journal (Philadelphia).

### Nearby entries

1. zeaxanthin, n. 1929–
2. Zebedist, n. 1574
3. zebra, n. 1597–
4. zebra caterpillar, n. 1841–
5. zebra crossing, n. 1934–
6. zebra danio, n. 1917–
7. zebraed, adj. 1806–
8. zebra finch, n. 1868–
9. zebrafish, n. 1771–
10. zebraic, adj. 1858–
11. zebra marking, n.1854–
12. zebra moray, n. 1933–
13. zebra mule, n. 1841–
14. zebra mussel, n. 1866–
15. zebrano, n. 1908–
16. zebra opossum, n. 1808–
17. zebra parakeet, n. 1856–
18. zebra plant, n. 1826–
19. zebra poison, n. 1871–74
20. zebra print, n. & adj. 1932–
21. zebra rhomb, n. 1770–1844

## Meaning & use

1. 1854–
   a. (Frequently in plural) stripes or markings resembling those of a zebra; spec. dark and light stripes applied to a road surface to indicate a pedestrian crossing (cf. zebra crossing n.) b. the action or practice of marking something with stripes.
   1. 1854

      > The G. gerardiana is a variety of the other without its zebra markings.

      Florist & Hort. Journal (Philadelphia) vol. 3 292
   2. 1901

      > Only in two cases did the foal of the stallion sire by the previously crossed zebra dam show any signs of a zebra-marking.

      G. P. Mudge, Textbook Zoology xxiii. 370
   3. 1949

      > Investigations by the Road Research Laboratory..have led to the full-scale trials of the striped (zebra) markings for pedestrian crossings.

      Surveyor 8 July 407/1
   4. 1955

      > Changes in pedestrian behavior as a result of zebra marking.

      Journal Operations Research Society of Amer. vol. 3 292 (heading)
   5. 2015

      > Traffic wardens..guide pedestrians to cross the roads at designated zebra markings only.

      Times of India (Nexis) 25 February
   1. barring c1386–
      The action of bar, v.. (a) Fastening up, in, or out, with a bar or bars. (b) Exclusion, prohibition. (c) Marking or ornamentation with bars. Also…
   2. bending c1386
      Decoration with ‘bends’ or stripes.
   3. striping 1731–
      The action or process of making a stripe or of forming stripes.
   4. zebra marking 1854–
      a. (Frequently in plural) stripes or markings resembling those of a zebra; spec. dark and light stripes applied to a road surface to indicate a…
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zebra marking 1854–
      a. (Frequently in plural) stripes or markings resembling those of a zebra; spec. dark and light stripes applied to a road surface to indicate a…
   2. candy stripe 1875–
      a. n. A pattern of alternating stripes of white and another colour, typically pink or red, resembling the pattern of a candy cane; b. adj. patterned…
   3. Peking stripe 1879–
      A fabric design of coloured stripes, characteristic of pekin (see Peking, n. 1).
   4. ribbon grain 1932–
      A stripe that is visible in the grain of mahogany and certain other hardwoods when quarter-sawn; frequently attributive.
   5. zebra print 1932–
      a. n. A pattern, motif, etc., resembling the striped coat of a zebra; (also) a fabric bearing such a design; b. adj. designating any of various…
   6. ribbon figure 1933–
      = ribbon grain, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zebra marking typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zebra marking 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 zebra marking, n., 1860–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1860 | 0.0008
1870 | 0.0012
1880 | 0.0013
1890 | 0.0013
1900 | 0.0016
1910 | 0.0018
1920 | 0.0019
1930 | 0.0019
1940 | 0.0018
1950 | 0.0017
1960 | 0.0016
1970 | 0.0014
1980 | 0.0014
1990 | 0.0014
2000 | 0.0013
2010 | 0.0012

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

zebra, n. was revised in June 2018.