A Zone Was Originally a Belt Worn Round the Waist
A zone is a distinct area. The Greek word meant a girdle.
A zone is an area distinguished by a particular characteristic or use. Greek *zone* meant a belt or girdle worn round the waist, and geographers took it for the bands they imagined circling the globe: the ancient world divided the earth into five climatic zones, two frigid, two temperate and one torrid, each a belt around the planet. From those bands came every later zone, from time zones to parking zones, all keeping the idea of a defined band or area.
- An area. *A pedestrian zone.*
- A climate band. *The temperate zone.*
- A time zone. *A time zone.*
- To divide. *Zoning regulations.*
- Greek — *zone*, a belt. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | zone | A zone. |
| Plural | zones | Zones. |
| Verb | zone | Zoning. |
| Adjective | zonal | Zonal. |
| Greek | zone | A belt. |
- A no-parking zone.Area.
- The temperate zone.Climate.
- Zone meant a belt.Etymology.
The five classical zones
- Two frigid zones at the poles, thought uninhabitable
- Two temperate zones, where civilisation was assumed to live
- One torrid zone at the equator, thought too hot to cross
- The scheme dates to Greek geographers such as Parmenides
- It survives in the names of the tropical and temperate zones
Latin *zona*, from Greek *zone*, a belt or girdle.
What did zone originally mean?
A belt worn round the waist. Geographers borrowed it for climatic bands circling the earth.
What were the five classical zones?
Two frigid, two temperate and one torrid, a Greek scheme that survives in our names for the tropics and temperate regions.