zero point

Questions

What does zero point mean?

The location of the center of a burst of a nuclear weapon at the instant of detonation. The zero point may be in the air, or on or beneath the surface of land or water, depending upon the type of burst, and it is thus to be distinguished from ground zero.

Where does zero point come from?

From early restandardization, possibly under influence of established US military terms such as zero hour, of the prior term point zero, which was coined during the Trinity Project, as point + zero, with zero being the code name for the Trinity test location. The original sense was that of ground zero and referred to only latitude and longitude, without regard to altitude, until the latter term's coinage in 1946.

How to pronounce zero point

1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “zero point”.
2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “zero point”.
4. Repeat and practice — Say “zero point” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.