Fwd: "zeroize, v." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

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Date: Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Subject: "zeroize, v." - Word of the Day from the OED
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Your word for today is: zeroize, v.

zeroize, v.
Pronunciation:/ˈzɪərəʊaɪz/
Etymology: <  zero n. + -ize suffix.
  trans. To adjust (an instrument or device) to give a zero reading,
esp. in order to calibrate it; to assign a value of zero to.
1914  E. M. Horsburgh Mod. Instruments & Methods Calculation 87 Mr.
Trinks has invented a device which disengages the pawls from the
number wheels when the latter are being zeroised.
1928 Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc. 88 451 Their principal
deficiencies were the absence of tens transmission in the multiplier
register,‥and the excessive labour of zeroising or clearing the
registers.
1974 Software World V. v. 12 Integer Function JCV12C converts a
positive integer L (L < 256) to a character in A1 format, zeroizing
bits 24 to 1.
Derivatives

 ˈzeroizing n.
1909 Brit. Patent 23,895/1908 3 Such clutches have already been
employed for the simultaneous zeroizing of two indicating mechanisms.
1914  E. M. Horsburgh Mod. Instruments & Methods Calculation 87 The
zeroising crank is fixed on the right-hand side of the carriage, and
the zeroising is effected by a half revolution of this crank.
1945 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 671/1 It is said to enable operational
errors to be rectified in a matter of moments, and the calculations to
be continued without the waste of time involved by ‘zeroising’ the
machine and restarting the calculations from the beginning.
1956  G. A. Montgomerie Digital Calculating Machines ii. 28 The other
major control is the zeroizing or clearance key or handle at the
right-hand side of the keyboard.

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