Etymograph

English

zone

Zone comes from Latin zōna ‘belt’, from Greek ζώνη ‘girdle, belt’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yoh₃snéh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yoh₃snéh₂reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEζώνηzṓnē‘belt, sash, girdle’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEzōna‘belt’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1567zone

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yoh₃snéh₂reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEζώνηzṓnē‘belt, sash, girdle’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEzōna‘belt’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1567zone

Earliest quotation: 1567, Ovid, Metamorphoses: “And as two Zones doe cut the Heaven upon…”

Linked words

through Latin zōna ‘belt, girdle’

zona, 2 more

Today it means

noun Each of the five regions of the earth's surface into which it was divided by climatic differences, namely the torrid zone (between the tropics), two temperate zones (between the tropics and the polar circles), and two frigid zones (within the polar circles).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *yoh₃snéh₂ / zone

Shirt and support for this word