zip, n.² & adj.

zip
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zip_n2%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zipnoun2 & adjective

## Factsheet

### What does the word zip mean?

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

### How is the word zip pronounced?

#### British English

/zɪp/
zip

#### U.S. English

/zɪp/
zip

### Where does the word zip come from?

Earliest known use

1900s

The earliest known use of the word zip is in the 1900s.

OED's earliest evidence for zip is from 1900, in Dialect Notes.

Perhaps (i) an arbitrary formation. Or perhaps (ii) formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: zero n., nip n.3

### Nearby entries

1. Zion, n. Old English–
2. Zion Curtain, n. 1951–
3. Zioner, n. 1681–1760
4. Zionism, n. 1896–
5. Zionist, n. & adj. a1649–
6. Zionistic, adj. 1887–
7. Zionite, n. 1596–
8. Zionless, adj. 1908
9. Zionward, adv. 1647–
10. Zionwards, adv. 1674–
11. zip, n.² & adj.1900–
12. zip, n.³ 1962–
13. zip, n.⁴ 1968–
14. zip, v.¹ 1852–
15. zip, v.² 1964–
16. zip, int. & n.¹ 1678–
17. zip-a-dee-doo-dah, int. & adj. 1945–
18. zip code, n. 1962–
19. zip-code, v. 1962–
20. zip-coded, adj. 1963–
21. zip-coding, n. 1964–

## Etymology

### Summary

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps (i) an arbitrary formation. Or perhaps (ii) formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: zero n., nip n.3
Origin uncertain. Perhaps an arbitrary formation, or perhaps < z- (in zero n.) + ‑ip (in nip n.3: compare sense III.9 at that entry).

Compare zilch n.

## Meaning & use

colloquial (originally U.S.).

1. noun
   1. 1900–
      Nothing at all, zero; (in negative constructions) anything at all; the least thing. Cf. zilch n.
      1. 1900

         > Zip, n., a zero in marks.

         Dialect Notes vol. 2 70
      2. 1972

         > Before this, neither one of us had known zip about stocks and bonds.

         D. E. Westlake, Cops & Robbers (1973) viii. 111
      3. 1980

         > But do away with all the frontal stuff and close-ups, you don't have zip.

         R. S. Hopkins, Riviera xxvii. 196
      4. 2001

         > Under the plan, the 400 richest multimillionaires will receive tax breaks worth an average of $1 million a year. The poorest working families will get zip.

         Nation (New York) 4 June 3/1
      5. 2018

         > Jurgen Klopp has won nothing with Liverpool. Nought, nil, nada, zero, zilch, zip.

         Daily Mirror (Nexis) 14 October 12
      U.S. English colloquial and slang
      1. nought Old English–
         That which does not exist, nothingness. Cf. naught, pron. A.1. Now archaic and rare.
      2. devil hae't c1590–
         Not a whit; very little; nothing at all. Cf. devil a haet at haet, n. 1a.
      3. neither tip nor toe 1610
         neither tip nor toe: not a particle or trace, none at all.
      4. nix 1781–
         Nothing; nobody.
      5. damn the haet 1787–
         damn the haet (formerly also †damned haet): nothing at all. Cf. damn all, n.
      6. no nothing 1815–
         colloquial. no nothing: absolutely nothing, nothing at all.
      7. zero 1823–
         Nil, no amount; none at all.
      8. all 1842–
         In various formations modelled on damn all (see damn all, n.), in which damn is replaced with other swear words, oaths, and expletives, or…
      9. neither hide nor hair 1857–
         In collocation with hair, esp. in (in) hide and hair: wholly, entirely; neither hide nor hair: nothing whatever. (So Dutch huid en haar.)
      10. zip 1900–
          Nothing at all, zero; (in negative constructions) anything at all; the least thing. Cf. zilch, n.
      11. nixie 1906–
          = nix, n.¹ B.a. rare.
      12. niente 1908–
          Nothing (more), not anything. Also as int.
      13. damn all 1910–
          Nothing at all, absolutely nothing.
      14. fuck-all 1916–
          coarse slang. Nothing at all; (in negative constructions) anything at all; the least thing. Also sweet fuck all (cf. Fanny Adams, n. 2, S.F.A., n.).
      15. Fanny Adams 1919–
          slang. Nothing at all. Chiefly in sweet Fanny Adams in the same sense.
      16. bugger-all 1921–
          Nothing at all, absolutely nothing.
      17. S.F.A. 1933–
          Sweet Fanny Adams (cf. F.A., n., Fanny Adams, n. 2).
      18. not a sausage 1938–
          transferred and figurative. Colloquial phrase not a sausage (and variants), nothing at all.
      19. shit 1949–
          Now chiefly coarse slang. In negative contexts: anything at all, the least thing. In positive contexts: nothing at all.
      20. zilch 1956–
          Nothing at all, zero; (in negative constructions) anything at all; the least thing. Cf. zip, n.²
      21. eff-all 1958–
          = fuck-all, n.
      22. sod all 1958–
          Nothing at all, absolutely nothing.
      23. diddly-squat 1963–
          As a count noun: a thing of little value or significance; esp. in not to give a diddly-squat. As a mass noun: nothing at all; (in negative…
      24. diddly 1964–
          = diddly-squat, n.
      25. jack-all 1965–
          Nothing at all; (in negative constructions) anything at all; the least thing. Cf. jackshit, n., jack squat, n.
      26. zippo 1973–
          Nothing at all; nought, zero. Also as adj.: no, not any, zero. Cf. zip, n.², zilch, n.
      27. feck-all 1975–
          = fuck-all, n.
      28. hee-haw 1975–
          Scottish colloquial. Nothing at all, absolutely nothing.
      29. naff all 1977–
          Nothing at all. Frequently euphemistic for fuck-all, n.
      30. jack squat 1986–
          Nothing at all; (in negative constructions) anything at all. Cf. jack-all, n., jackshit, n.
      View in Historical Thesaurus
2. adjective
   (in attributive use).
   1. 1969–
      Absolutely no; not any. Cf. zilch adj. B.2.
      1. 1969

         > A five minute stretch when Detroit scored a total of zip points while Philadelphia was scoffing up 14 in a row.

         Ludington (Michigan) Daily News 6 January 5/5
      2. 1999

         > More than six of 10 pastoralists in the drought-stricken outback lands..are not going to make it in the long term... ‘It could rain three inches of rain and the price of wool could double and it would make zip impact because so many are so heavily in debt.’

         Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 8 June (Late edition) 7
      3. 2013

         > There is no evidence, zero, zip evidence that modifying plants by molecular techniques has special dangers associated with it.

         Greenwire (Nexis) 20 February
      U.S. English colloquial and slang
      1. nany Old English–1450
         Not any, no.
      2. none Old English–
         Not any; = no, adj. 1. Now archaic and Scottish (rare).
      3. none-kins Old English–1500
         No kind of, not any, no.
      4. no (none) such Old English–
         no (†none) such adj., rarely †no such a; absolute or as pronoun now only none such (cf. none such, no… No (person or thing) of the kind; none of the…
      5. no late Old English–
         With a singular or plural noun. Not any. Accompanied by other negatives, with overall negative force (sometimes with more emphasis than a single…
      6. no kin a1400–1598
         No kind of, not any, no.
      7. zero 1823–
         In sense A.3a.
      8. nix 1846–
         = no, adj. Esp. in phrases representing Anglicization of German phrases, as nix fish-tins, etc.
      9. nought 1945–
         Zero; no, not any.
      10. bugger-all 1948–
          Not any; absolutely no; very little.
      11. damn all 1953–
          Absolutely no; not any. Also in weakened sense: very little.
      12. fuck-all 1961–
          coarse slang. Absolutely no; not any. Also as an intensifier (cf. fucking, adj. A.2).
      13. eff-all 1965–
          = fuck-all, adj.
      14. zilch 1969–
          In attributive use. Absolutely no; not any.
      15. zip 1969–
          Absolutely no; not any. Cf. zilch, adj. B.2.
      16. zippo 1973–
          Nothing at all; nought, zero. Also as adj.: no, not any, zero. Cf. zip, n.², zilch, n.
      17. sod all 1978–
          Not any; absolutely no; very little.
      18. negative 1984–
          colloquial (originally U.S. Services' slang). Designating an absolute lack of something; = no, adj. 1b.
      View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zɪp/
zip

### U.S. English

/zɪp/
zip

####

##### 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

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zip, v.² 1964–
   transitive. U.S. colloquial. To defeat (an…

1. zippo, n.² 1973–
   Nothing at all; nought, zero. Also as adj.: no…

Originally published as part of the entry for zip, int. & n.¹

zip, n.² & adj. was revised in March 2021.

zip, n.² & adj. was last modified in July 2023.