zone

Definition

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).

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "And as two Zones doe cut the Heaven upon the righter side, / And other twaine upon the left likewise the same devide, / The middle in outragious heat exceeding all the rest: / Even so likewise through great foresight to God it seemed best, / The earth encluded in the same should so devided bee […]."
• "To avoid which, we will take any pains […]; we will dive to the bottom of the sea, to the bowels of the earth, five, six, seven, eight, nine hundred fathom deep, through all five zones, and both extremes of heat and cold […]."
• "And while idle curiosity may take its walk in shady avenues by the ocean side, commerce[…]defies every wind, outrides every tempest, and invades every zone."