The Zipper Was Named for the Sound It Makes
A zipper is a fastener with interlocking teeth. The name came from a brand of rubber boots in 1923, and it imitates the noise.
A zipper is a fastener with two rows of interlocking teeth. The name is onomatopoeic and commercial at once: the B. F. Goodrich company used it in 1923 for rubber galoshes closed with the new device, and the story goes that an executive liked the *zip* sound the slider made. The mechanism had existed for thirty years under duller names like *clasp locker*.
- A fastener. *The zipper jammed.*
- Zip — the British word. *Do your zip up.*
- Verb, to fasten. *Zip up your coat.*
- Zip file — a compressed archive. *Send it as a zip file.*
- Zip it — be quiet. *Zip it, please.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | zipper | A broken zipper. |
| British | zip | A stuck zip. |
| Verb | zip | Zip it up. |
| Past | zipped | He zipped the bag. |
| Compound | zip-up | A zip-up hoodie. |
- The zipper on my jacket is broken.American.
- The zip has come off its track.British.
- Compress the folder into a zip file.Computing.
How a zip actually works
- Two rows of teeth, each shaped with a hook and a hollow
- The slider has a Y-shaped channel inside
- Pulling up forces the teeth together so each hook enters the next hollow
- Pulling down wedges them apart again
- Gideon Sundback perfected the modern design in 1913, a decade before the name
From *zip*, imitating a sharp sound, plus the agent ending -er. B. F. Goodrich applied the name to boots in 1923, and it spread to the fastener itself.
Who invented the zipper?
Whitcomb Judson patented an early version in 1893; Gideon Sundback developed the modern design in 1913. The name came in 1923.
Is it zip or zipper?
Zip in British English, zipper in American. Both are understood everywhere.