ground zero

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɡɹaʊnd ˈzɪəɹəʊ/
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• General-American: /ˌɡɹaʊnd ˈzɪɚ(ˌ)oʊ/
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• General-American: /-ˈzi(ˌ)ɹoʊ/
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɪəɹəʊ
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From the general term ground zero.

From ground + zero, first attested in a June 1946 a report by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6 and 9, 1945, during World War II. “Zero” was used as the code name for the location of the Trinity atomic bomb test – the first detonation of a nuclear weapon – in New Mexico, USA, on July 16, 1945.

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Esperanto: Nultero — site of former World Trade Center
• German: Ground Zero — site of former World Trade Center
• Polish: Ground Zero — site of former World Trade Center
• Spanish: sitio del ex Centro Mundial Mercantil — site of former World Trade Center
• Basque: zero gune — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Chinese Mandarin: 爆心投影點 /爆心投影点 (bàoxīn tóuyǐngdiǎn) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Chinese Mandarin: 原爆點 /原爆点 (yuánbàodiǎn) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Dutch: maalde nul — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Esperanto: nultero — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Estonian: plahvatuse epitsenter — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Finnish: nollapiste — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• French: point zéro — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• German: Bodennullpunkt — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Hebrew: גראונד זירו — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Hungarian: epicentrum — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Italian: terra zero — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Japanese: グラウンドゼロ (guraundozero) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Japanese: 爆心地 (bakushinchi) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Japanese: 爆心地点 (bakushin-chiten) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Japanese: 落下地点 (rakka chiten) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Korean: 그라운드 제로 (geuraundeu jero) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Korean: 폭심지 (poksimji) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Korean: 원폭점 (wonpokjeom) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Latin: solum nihil — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Latin: terra nihil — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Polish: strefa zero — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Portuguese: ponto de impacto — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Russian: эпице́нтр взрыва (epicéntr vzryva) — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Serbo-Croatian: ну̏лтӣ та̏чка — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Serbo-Croatian: површинска ну̏ла — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Serbo-Croatian: nȕltī tȁčka — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Serbo-Croatian: povrsinska nȕla — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Spanish: punto cero — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Spanish: tierra cero — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Spanish: zona cero — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Turkish: yer sıfır noktası — point on the land or water surface below, at, or above the detonation of a nuclear bomb
• Polish: strefa zero — location of any disaster or violent assault
• Polish: strefa zero — point at which something begins