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PlainSpell

zone

/zoʊn/noun, verb

zone is spelled Z-O-N-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 52 times per million words in written English, the 1,941st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, zone means “Any given region or area of the world” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of zone is zones.

How many letters and syllables are in zone?

Letters4: Z-O-N-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing52 times per million words; the 1,941st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is zone?

Zone appears 52 times per million words in written English, the 1,941st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce zone?

  • US /zoʊn/
  • UK /zəʊn/

Zone has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-zone.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with zone?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as zone from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of zone

  • zones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • zoning participle, present
  • zoned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does zone mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    archaicEach 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).

  2. 2

    Any given region or area of the world.

  3. 3

    A given area distinguished on the basis of a particular characteristic, use, restriction, etc.

    There is a no-smoking zone that extends 25 feet outside of each entrance.

  4. 4

    A restricted category or virtual place.

    The discussion was veering off into a danger zone.

  5. 5

    A band or area of growth encircling anything.

    a zone of evergreens on a mountain

  6. 6

    A band or stripe extending around a body.

  7. 7

    A series of planes having mutually parallel intersections.

  8. 8

    informalThe strike zone.

    That pitch was low and away, just outside the zone.

verb

  1. 1

    To divide into or assign to sections or areas.

    Please zone off our staging area, a section for each group.

  2. 2

    To define the property use classification of (an area).

    This area was zoned for industrial use.

  3. 3

    slangTo enter a daydream state temporarily, for instance as a result of boredom, fatigue, or intoxication; to doze off.

    I must have zoned while he was giving us the directions.

  4. 4

    archaicTo girdle or encircle.

  5. 5

    To assign to a restricted category.

    We've zoned each other as friends; we'll never be anything more.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Zone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchzone (area distinguished on the basis of a particular…)
GermanBereich, Distrikt, Eingabefeld, Feld, Gebiet, Gürtel (area distinguished on the basis of a particular…)
Portuguesezona (area distinguished on the basis of a particular…)
Spanishzona (area distinguished on the basis of a particular…), dividir en zonas, zonificar (to divide or assign areas), declarar (to define property use classification)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does zone come from?

From Latin zōna, from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “girdle, belt”). Doublet of zona.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after zone