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.
双语例句
1. The security zone was set up to prevent guerrilla infiltrations.
设立了安全区以防止游击队员的渗入。
来自柯林斯例句
2. They fell into that twilight zone between military personnel and civilian employees.
他们成了军队人员与平民雇员之间身份界定不清的人。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The area could be turned into a demilitarized zone.
该地区可能会成为非军事区。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Many people have stayed behind in the potential war zone.