Revised 2023
Zulu timenoun
Factsheet
What does the noun Zulu time mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zulu time. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
Where does the noun Zulu time come from?
Earliest known use
1950s
The earliest known use of the noun Zulu time is in the 1950s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zulu time is from 1959, in Flying Safety.
Nearby entries
- zug, n.1899–
- zugtrompete, n.1978–
- Zugunruhe, n.1950–
- Zugzwang, n.1904–
- zule | zulis, n.1780–
- Zulu, n. & adj.1824–
- Zulu, v.1882–
- Zuludom, n.1867–
- Zulu hat, n.1879–
- Zuluize, v.1852–
- Zulu time, n.1959–
- zumbador, n.1758–64
- zumbi, n.1704–
- zumboorukchee, n.1840–
- Zuñi, n.1834–
- zunyite, n.1885–
- zuppa, n.1961–
- Zurich, n.1870–
- Zuricher, n.1673–
- zurla, n.1940–
- zurlite, n.1826–
Meaning & use
- 1959–(An informal name for) Greenwich Mean Time, and (subsequently) Universal Time; cf. Zulu n. A.5b.
- 1959
So if he has to use Zulu time, then let him follow it up with the time also in local zonal time.
Flying Safety March 1/1 - 1981
Projected detonation deadline at fourteen-hundred hours, Zulu Time.
T. Barling, Bikini Red North xii. 260 - 2022
Stay on schedule with a UTC hand on the watch face, which can also display and help pilots manage multiple time zones, including Zulu time.
Impact Financial News (Nexis) 9 February
- time1646–Science. With preceding distinguishing word. A particular system of measuring or reckoning the length of the day and hence the passage of time.
- apparent time1694–= apparent solar time at solar time, n. 2(a).
- local timea1703–(Originally) time at a particular place reckoned from the instant of transit of the mean sun over the meridian at that place (which defines noon)…
- solar time1714–A time of day or point in time, calculated with reference to the position of the sun; spec. (a) a time as calculated with reference to the position…
- ship time1778–Canadian. The time at which an annual supply ship arrives in port, typically after river ice has melted or broken up in the summer. Now chiefly histo…
- Greenwich Mean Time1782–Mean solar time at the Greenwich meridian, internationally recognized as a standard time; abbreviated GMT.
- standard time1809–A standard system of reckoning time adopted throughout a country or region, now based on the time zone in which it is situated; the time as…
- sun time1837–Time determined with reference to the position of the sun, solar time; esp. time as calculated by the apparent motion of the sun (i.e. as shown on…
- GMT1840–= Greenwich Mean Time n. at Greenwich, n. I.1c.
- railway time1847–A standard time adopted throughout a railway system to supersede local time for the purposes of railway operations.
- railroad time1849–= railway time, n.
- Greenwich time1861–Time by the sun at the Greenwich meridian; spec. = Greenwich Mean Time n. at sense I.1c.
- Eastern time1878–a. North American = Eastern Standard Time, n. (a); b. Australian = Eastern Standard Time, n. (b); also more fully Australian Eastern Time…
- Pacific time1880–= Pacific Standard Time, n.
- Universal Time1882–An internationally accepted standard time corresponding to mean solar time at the Greenwich meridian, calculated from midnight as zero; spec. (more…
- a. North American the standard time in a zone including most of Mexico and central parts of the United States and Canada, based on the mean solar…
- central time1883–a. North American = central standard time, n. (a); b. Australian= Australian Central Standard Time, n..
- a. North American the standard time in a zone including Ontario, Quebec, and the east coast region of the United States, based on the mean solar…
- Mountain time1883–The time based on the mean solar time of the 105th meridian, esp. = Mountain Standard Time, n.; (also) the zone of Mountain Standard Time.
- The standard time in a zone including most of western and central continental Europe, one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time; abbreviated CET.
- The standard time in a zone including much of eastern Europe, two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time; abbreviated EET.
- a. = Greenwich Mean Time n. at Greenwich, n. I.1c (now disused); b. the standard time used experimentally in the United Kingdom from 18 February…
- daylight saving1908–A method of securing longer evening daylight during the summer by setting the clocks ahead of standard time, typically by one hour; the period…
- daylight saving time1908–Time as adjusted during the summer to achieve longer evening daylight, by setting the clocks ahead of standard time, typically by one hour; the…
- zone time1908–Mean solar time at the standard meridian on which the local time zone is based, taken as the standard time throughout the zone (cf. Zulu, n. &…
- LMT1909–Local mean time.
- British Summer Time1916–The daylight saving time used in the United Kingdom, one hour in advance of GMT (UTC), and in force in the summer months of most years since it was…
- GMAT1916–Greenwich Mean Astronomical Time, the mean solar time on the Greenwich meridian, with noon taken as the beginning of each day; cf. GMT, n.
- summertime1916–Chiefly as two words, and frequently with capital initials, as Summer Time. The standard time (one hour in advance of ordinary time) adopted in…
- The daylight saving time used in the zone observing Eastern standard time, four hours behind Greenwich Mean Time; abbreviated EDT.
- U.T.1929–Universal Time.
- B.S.T.1930–British Summer Time; (from 1968) British Standard Time.
- EST1935–= Eastern Standard Time, n. (in both senses).
- atomic time1937–Time as measured by atomic clocks; spec. (more fully International Atomic Time) an internationally accepted time scale now based on the weighted…
- The daylight saving time used in the United Kingdom under emergency regulations, two hours ahead of GMT (UTC), and in force in the summer months…
- wartime1942–In form war time. In the United States: a form of year-round daylight saving time introduced during World War II. Now historical.
- B.D.S.T.1943–British Double Summer Time.
- ephemeris time1950–ephemeris time n. a uniform time scale used in astronomy, defined in terms of the orbital motions of the moon and planets and taking as the…
- Zulu time1959–(An informal name for) Greenwich Mean Time, and (subsequently) Universal Time; cf. Zulu, n. A.5b.