zone

To divide into or assign to sections or areas.

Noun

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).
- 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...
- 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...
- 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. - 1841, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from...
Any given region or area of the world.
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.
- The white zone is for loading and unloading only.
- Files in the Internet zone are blocked by default, as a security measure.
A restricted category or virtual place.
- The discussion was veering off into a danger zone.
A band or area of growth encircling anything.
- a zone of evergreens on a mountain
- the zone of animal or vegetable life in the ocean around an island or a continent
- Some of the lagoons, said to have subterranean outlets, have no visible ones; the inclosing island, in such cases, being a complete zone of emerald. - 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in...
A band or stripe extending around a body.
A series of planes having mutually parallel intersections.
The strike zone.
- That pitch was low and away, just outside the zone.
Every of the three parts of an ice rink, divided by two blue lines.
- Players are off side, if they enter the attacking zone before the puck.
A semicircular area in front of each goal.
- The defender playing at the top of the zone is nine to fourteen metres out from the goal line. - 1974, Franko Blazic with Zorko Soric, Team Handball, page 31:
A mental state of high concentration and performance; see: in the zone.
- I just got in the zone late in the game: everything was going in.
A defensive scheme where defenders guard a particular area of the court or field, as opposed to a particular opposing player.

Origin

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

Verb

To divide into or assign to sections or areas.
- Please zone off our staging area, a section for each group.
- The high-level process is to shut down the server, unzone the server from Generation 2, zone the server to Gen3, and then define and activate the data-migration (DM) volumes between the Generation 2 and Gen3. - 2018,...
To define the property use classification of (an area).
- This area was zoned for industrial use.
To 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.
- Everyone just put their goddamn heads together and zoned. # (transitive, archaic, poetic) To girdle or encircle. - 1996, Byron Coley, liner notes for the album "Piece for Jetsun Dolma" by Thurston Moore)
To assign to a restricted category.
- We've zoned each other as friends; we'll never be anything more.