late 14c., from Latin zona "geographical belt, celestial zone," from Greek zone "a belt, the girdle worn by women at the hips," related to zonnynai "to gird," from PIE root *yos- "to gird" (cognates: Avestan yasta- "girt," Lithuanian juosiu "to gird," Old Church Slavonic po-jasu "girdle"). The 10c. Anglo-Saxon treatise on astronomy translates Latin quinque zonas as fyf gyrdlas.
Originally one of the five great divisions of the earth's surface (torrid, temperate, frigid; separated by tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and Arctic and Antarctic circles); meaning "any discrete region" is first recorded 1822. Zone defense in team sports is recorded from 1927.
zone (v.)
1760, "mark with zones," from zone (n.). Land use planning sense is from 1916. Related: Zoned; zoning.
雙語例句
1. The security zone was set up to prevent guerrilla infiltrations.
設立了安全區(qū)以防止游擊隊員的滲入。
來自柯林斯例句
2. They fell into that twilight zone between military personnel and civilian employees.
他們成了軍隊人員與平民雇員之間身份界定不清的人。
來自柯林斯例句
3. The area could be turned into a demilitarized zone.
該地區(qū)可能會成為非軍事區(qū)。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Many people have stayed behind in the potential war zone.