Wordul · all words

adjective · 2 syllables · /'zoʊ.nəl/

ZONAL

What does "ZONAL" mean?

Relating to, divided into, or arranged in zones.

Meanings

  1. Of, relating to, or organized into zones or distinct bands. The city adopted a zonal pricing scheme for parking.
  2. In geography and meteorology, oriented along lines of latitude (east-west). Zonal winds circle the globe parallel to the equator. technical
  3. In sports, relating to zonal marking, where players cover areas rather than individual opponents. The defense switched to a zonal system after halftime. technical

Did you know?

  • In weather science 'zonal' has a precise meaning - it describes wind flowing along latitude lines, east-west, the opposite of 'meridional' flow that carries air north and south.

Word origin

From 'zone' plus '-al'; 'zone' comes from Latin 'zona' (belt, girdle), itself from Greek 'zōnē', referring originally to a belt or the climatic belts the ancients imagined girdling the Earth.

Remember it

ZONAL is ZONE + AL: think of the Earth's climate ZONEs running in belts, and 'zonal' is the adjective that wears them.

A little poem

The map breaks the world
into belts of certain weather-
wind ignores the lines.

haiku

Wordplay

  • The geographer and the soccer coach argued for hours, until they realized they were both just defending their zonal positions.

What it teaches

We draw zones to make the world legible; the wind and the crowd cross them anyway.

Quick facts

What does ZONAL mean?

Relating to, divided into, or arranged in zones.

Is ZONAL a valid word?

Yes — ZONAL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is ZONAL?

ZONAL has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does ZONAL come from?

From 'zone' plus '-al'; 'zone' comes from Latin 'zona' (belt, girdle), itself from Greek 'zōnē', referring originally to a belt or the climatic belts the ancients imagined girdling the Earth.

What can ZONAL teach us?

We draw zones to make the world legible; the wind and the crowd cross them anyway.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

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