Abyssal zone

Zone one (z[=o]n), n. [F. zone, L. zona, Gr. zw`nh; akin to zwnny`nai to gird, Lith. j[*u]sta a girdle, j[*u]sti to gird, Zend y[=a]h.] 1. A girdle; a cincture. [Poetic] [1913 Webster]

An embroidered zone surrounds her waist. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound. --Collins. [1913 Webster]

2. (Geog.) One of the five great divisions of the earth, with respect to latitude and temperature. [1913 Webster]

Note: The zones are five: the torrid zone, extending from tropic to tropic 46[deg] 56[min], or 23[deg] 28[min] on each side of the equator; two temperate or variable zones, situated between the tropics and the polar circles; and two frigid zones, situated between the polar circles and the poles. [1913 Webster]

Commerce . . . defies every wind, outrides every tempest, and invades. --Bancroft. [1913 Webster]

3. (Math.) The portion of the surface of a sphere included between two parallel planes; the portion of a surface of revolution included between two planes perpendicular to the axis. --Davies & Peck (Math. Dict.) [1913 Webster]

4. (Nat. Hist.) (a) A band or stripe extending around a body. (b) A band or area of growth encircling anything; as, a zone of evergreens on a mountain; the zone of animal or vegetable life in the ocean around an island or a continent; the Alpine zone, that part of mountains which is above the limit of tree growth. [1913 Webster]

5. (Crystallog.) A series of planes having mutually parallel intersections. [1913 Webster]

6. Circuit; circumference. [R.] --Milton. [1913 Webster]

7. (Biogeography) An area or part of a region characterized by uniform or similar animal and plant life; a life zone; as, Littoral zone, Austral zone, etc.

Note: The zones, or life zones, commonly recognized for North America are Arctic, Hudsonian, Canadian, Transition, Upper Austral, Lower Austral, and Tropical. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

8. (Cryst.) A series of faces whose intersection lines with each other are parallel. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

9. (Railroad Econ.) (a) The aggregate of stations, in whatsoever direction or on whatsoever line of railroad, situated between certain maximum and minimum limits from a point at which a shipment of traffic originates. (b) Any circular or ring-shaped area within which the street-car companies make no differences of fare. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

10. any area to or within which a shipment or transportation cost is constant; specifically, in the United States parcel-post system, any of the areas about any point of shipment for which but one rate of postage is charged for a parcel post shipment from that point. The rate increases from within outwards. The first zone includes the unit of area ``(a quadrangle 30 minutes square)'' in which the place of shipment is situated and the 8 contiguous units; the outer limits of the second to the seventh zones, respectively, are approximately 150, 300, 600, 1000, 1400, and 1800 miles from the point of shipment; the eighth zone includes all units of area outside the seventh zone. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

{Abyssal zone}. (Phys. Geog.) See under {Abyssal}.

{Zone axis} (Crystallog.), a straight line passing through the center of a crystal, to which all the planes of a given zone are parallel. [1913 Webster]