ozonen.
/ˈəʊzəʊn/, U.S. /ˈoʊˌzoʊn/ Chemistry.
1.
a. An allotropic form of oxygen, O3, which is a bluish toxic gas with a characteristic sharp odour, is a powerful oxidizing agent, and is produced from molecular oxygen by electrical discharge and in the upper atmosphere by ultraviolet light. Also colloquial: fresh, invigorating air.Ozone was formerly supposed to have a tonic effect and was erroneously believed to be present in fresh air.
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the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > oxygen > [noun] > ozones
ozone1841
1841 C. F. Schönbein in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1840 214 I shall..consider the odoriferous principle as an elementary body and call it ‘Ozone’, on account of its strong smell.
1871 M. Collins Marquis & Merchant II. vii. 195 Exhilarated by the fresh ozone of the mountains.
1880 E. Cleminshaw tr. C. A. Wurtz Atomic Theory 119 Ozone is, as we all know, condensed oxygen.
1955 Sci. News Let. 21 May 328/1 The ozone..may be the cause of the watering eyes common in Los Angeles during smog.
1979 P. Mortimer About Time iv. 61 An important part of our middle-class Englishness was the seaside holiday—no baking on a Mediterranean beach, but lungfuls of ozone, gales, hard sand, buckets and spades.
1993 Guardian 16 Oct. 13/7 The ozone concentration over the Antarctic has fallen in the last three weeks to the lowest levels recorded in 30 years of monitoring.
b. = ozone layer n. at Compounds 2a.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > [noun] > specific regions of
upper air1586
upper atmosphere1586
stratosphere1909
troposphere1909
ionosphere1926
ozone layer1927
ozonosphere1933
spray region1949
mesosphere1950
thermosphere1950
turbosphere1951
magnetosphere1959
Van Allen1959
ozone shield1965
plasmasphere1966
ozone1975
1975 Business Week 6 Oct. 30/1 One example is the effect of supersonic flight on ozone reduction.
1994 Earthkeeper Oct.–Nov. 21/2 Telemetric data from satellites and photogrammetric techniques will provide the opportunity to ‘observe’ firsthand the hole in the ozone above Antarctica.
2001 M. Blake 24 Karat Schmooze xvii. 190 In his mid-forties, he sported a bouffant of ebony hair that kept the hairspray industry alive and the ozone depleted.
2. figurative. Something fresh or invigorating.
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1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters xxvi, in Cornhill Mag. Apr. 450 The aristocratic ozone being absent from the atmosphere, there was a flatness about the dancing of all those who considered themselves above the plebeian ranks of the tradespeople.
1896 Godey's Mag. Apr. 357/1 In the artistic ozone of that zealous body of workers her ambition received its first definite impulse.
1992 E. Field Counting myself Lucky 126 In these airconditioned malls, how one longs For the ozone of ideas.
3. U.S. slang. to be (off) in the ozone and variants: to be in a stupefied, dazed, or drowsy state, esp. as a result of consuming alcohol or drugs.
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1971 L. Bangs in Who put Bomp! Fall 81 She is in the O-Zone!
1982 R. Angell Late Innings xvi. 396 He was off in the ozone the rest of the night.
2000 T. Robbins Fierce Invalids 13 There followed another long silence, but this time he could tell she wasn't drifting in any geriatric ozone.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
ozone generator n.
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1866 Sci. Amer. 6 Oct. 240/1 I also claim..the ozone generator..constructed and operating substantially as described.
1935 Sci. Monthly Aug. 124/2 The use of gases in welding and cutting,..ozone generators, Cottrell precipitators..etc., have all helped to bring about a decided change in attitude on the part of the engineer.
1998 New Phytologist 139 659/1 An ozone generator..continuously delivered O3 in an episodic pattern.
b.
ozone-bearing adj.
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1890 Daily News 25 Jan. 5/7 The want..of ozone-bearing south-westerly winds.
2001 Evening Herald (Plymouth) 30 Oct. 9 Preliminary investigations..point to a failure of one of the valve systems controlling the amount of ozone-bearing water..entering the tank.
C2.
a. † ozone-box n. Obsolete a box containing ozone papers, used to indicate the presence and concentration of ozone in the air.† ozone-hydrogen n. Obsolete rare hydrogen evolved by electrolysis of sulphuric acid, formerly believed to be more reactive than ordinary hydrogen.† ozone test paper n. Obsolete = ozone paper n.† ozone water n. Obsolete a solution of ozone in water.
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the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > oxygen > [noun] > ozones > measurement of
ozone-box1860
ozonoscope1872
1860 Proc. Royal Soc. 1859–60 10 531 The ordinary form of Ozone-box being very cumbersome, the present one has been contrived to supersede it.
1863 Proc. Royal Soc. 1862–3 12 519 No box has been found to answer so well as that constructed by myself, and known as ‘Lowe's Ozone box’.
ozone depleter n. any of various environmental pollutants which contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere.
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1975 Northwest Arkansas Times 11 Aug. 5/6 An atomic blast with its huge quantities of nitrogen oxide spewed into the air would be the biggest ozone depleter.
2001 J. H. Holloway in R. Catlow & S. Greenfield Cosmic Rays 93 Fluothane, CF3CHClBr, again a relative of the CFCs and an ozone depleter.
ozone depletion n. reduction of the concentration of ozone in the ozone layer as a result of the action of atmospheric pollutants.
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1970 Science 3 July 80/2 Porometer readings and ozone depletion rates were taken periodically.
1995 Guardian 7 Mar. i. 10/6 It is much too early in the process to say for certain that the problems these people are experiencing are due to ozone depletion..but what we do know is that such high levels of radiation are dangerous.
ozone hole n. a region of the ozone layer in which the ozone concentration is substantially depleted, occurring chiefly at high latitudes and attributed to the chemical action of CFCs and other atmospheric pollutants.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > [noun] > specific regions of > specific region of ozonosphere
ozone hole1986
1986 Sci. News (Nexis) 1 Mar. 133/1 (heading) Ozone hole at southern pole.
1990 Earth Matters Spring 9/1 Over 80 governments are already committed to phasing out CFCs by the year 2000... It is unlikely that the Antarctic ozone hole will be eliminated.
2001 S. Roaf et al. Ecohouse (2002) vi. 129 The occurrence of the ozone holes over the Arctic and the Antarctic means that below the holes radiation levels are higher.
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1866–77 H. Watts Dict. Chem. IV. 323 Ozone-hydrogen.
ozone layer n. a region of the upper atmosphere containing a relatively high concentration of ozone, which absorbs much of the ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth from the sun; = ozonosphere n.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > [noun] > specific regions of
upper air1586
upper atmosphere1586
stratosphere1909
troposphere1909
ionosphere1926
ozone layer1927
ozonosphere1933
spray region1949
mesosphere1950
thermosphere1950
turbosphere1951
magnetosphere1959
Van Allen1959
ozone shield1965
plasmasphere1966
ozone1975
1927 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 114 537 MM. Cabannes and Dufay..have estimated the height of the ozone layer by making measurements of the intensity of sunlight with very low sun.
1987 Observer 20 Sept. 53/7 CFCs have been under suspicion of damaging the ozone layer since the mid 1970s.
2001 K. Lette Nip 'n' Tuck 2 If these so-called scientists are so bloody brilliant, why aren't they off fixing the hole in the goddamn ozone layer?
ozone paper n. now rare a test paper impregnated with iodide ions which darkens in the presence of ozone.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical tests > indicators > [noun] > test papers
litmus paper1803
turmeric paper1806
test-paper1827
georgina paper1843
ozone paper1861
ozone test paper1872
turmeric test-paper1880
lead-paper1890
tetra-paper1890
1861 Sci. Amer. 18 May 315 Papers of this kind (exhibiting ozone papers) are exposed to the atmosphere for certain fixed and definite lengths of time.
1934 Sci. Monthly Sept. 225/1 Determination of ozone by means of ‘ozone papers’.
ozone scale n. now rare a scale of tints with which to compare ozone papers after exposure.
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1871 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 34 435 (table) Ozone Scale.
1910 W. L. Moore Descriptive Meteorol. ii. 26 After being exposed for from eight to twelve hours the paper is taken down and dipped in water, and its color compared with a standard ozone scale of colors.
ozone shield n. = ozone layer n.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > [noun] > specific regions of
upper air1586
upper atmosphere1586
stratosphere1909
troposphere1909
ionosphere1926
ozone layer1927
ozonosphere1933
spray region1949
mesosphere1950
thermosphere1950
turbosphere1951
magnetosphere1959
Van Allen1959
ozone shield1965
plasmasphere1966
ozone1975
1965 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 53 1206 Plants freed oxygen, which accumulated in the atmosphere; and this, in turn, provided the ozone shield which today screens the earth's surface.
1992 N.Y. Times 5 May c1/1 Waste industrial chemicals were weakening the stratospheric ozone shield that protects living things from biologically harmful ultraviolet rays.
ozone-sonde n. a sonde which transmits information on the ozone content of the atmosphere.
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1960 Monogr. Internat. Geodetic & Geophysical Union No. 3. 20 During the IGY many successful balloon soundings with the ozone-sonde were obtained.
1969 D. H. McIntosh & A. S. Thom Essent. Meteorol. vii. 111 One form of ozone sonde..is that devised by A. W. Brewer. Air is bubbled through a small electrolytic cell filled with neutral potassium iodide solution.
1995 New Scientist 4 Nov. 49/2 I only used data from ozonesondes: electrochemical cells encased in polystyrene boxes suspended below hydrogen-filled balloons that measure vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, humidity and ozone concentration as they ascend through the atmosphere.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical tests > indicators > [noun] > test papers
litmus paper1803
turmeric paper1806
test-paper1827
georgina paper1843
ozone paper1861
ozone test paper1872
turmeric test-paper1880
lead-paper1890
tetra-paper1890
1872 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1871 ii. 76 The author stated that the ozone test-papers did not become permanently coloured in the neighbourhood of cesspools.
1889 Science 7 June 440/2 The author made some experiments with the ordinary ozone test papers... The papers did not always give the same results when two or more were exposed under precisely the same conditions.
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the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of dissolving > [noun] > solution > ozone in water
ozone water1866
1866–77 H. Watts Dict. Chem. IV. 323 Ozone-water, an aqueous solution of ozone, which, according to Meissner.., exhibits in certain cases an action opposed to that of peroxide of hydrogen.
1873 Harper's Mag. Apr. 783/1 Professor Böttger..has examined specimens of such ozone water, and found an acid reaction, but no trace of ozone.
b.
ozone-benign adj. = ozone-friendly adj.
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1988 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 5 Oct. 4 A £50 million research programme to develop ‘ozone benign’ substitutes is underway at ICI's Runcorn laboratories.
1995 Environmental Performance 1994 (ICI Group Statement) 12/2 All ‘Klea’ refrigerants (our ozone benign replacements for CFCs) can now be recycled in the UK.
ozone-depleting adj. that causes, or results in, depletion of the ozone layer.
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1975 Science 3 Oct. 8/3 Assumption: there is no other way to get fluorocarbons out of the atmosphere except by the ozone-depleting reaction.
2003 Ecologist May 44/1 The world's military forces are responsible for the emission of more than two thirds of ozone-depleting CFCs and Halon.
ozone-destroying adj. that causes, or contains chemicals that cause, the destruction of the ozone layer.
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1975 Science 28 Mar. 1182/2 Scare statements about the possible use of bromine as an ozone-destroying weapon have been made publicly and, not surprisingly, have found their way into press accounts.
2002 Time Out N.Y. 18 Apr. 20/3 Items that chill—fridges, freezers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, or water coolers—contain ozone-destroying Freon or CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), and need to be disposed of properly.
ozone-friendly adj. (of manufactured products) not containing chemicals that are destructive to the ozone layer.
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the world > action or operation > safety > [adjective] > safe or not dangerous > safe or harmless > to the environment
environmentalist1968
environmentally sound1969
environmentally friendly1971
friendly1971
low-impact1972
sustainable1976
environmental1977
environmental friendly1977
sustainability1980
eco-sensitive1982
environment-friendly1982
nature-friendly1984
ozone-friendly1988
earth-friendly1989
eco-friendly1989
1988 Daily Tel. 11 Jan. 10/8 Sprays labelled ‘ozone friendly’, indicating that they do not contain chemicals which damage the earth's ozone layer.
2002 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 5 Dec. 18 Although the harmful refrigerants have been banned, their more ozone-friendly replacements still contribute to global warming.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1841