a locally circumscribed place characterized by some distinctive features
"The neighborhood is known as the arts zone, where every street corner displays vibrant murals and local galleries line the sidewalks."
any of the regions of the surface of the Earth loosely divided according to latitude or longitude
"The meteorologists projected that the storm would move north into the tropical zone next week."
an area or region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic
"The airport divided the tarmac into distinct zones, where each section was marked by different colored lights to guide ground crew."
Each of the five regions of the earth's surface into which it was divided by climatic differences, namely the torrid zone (between the tropics), two temperate zones (between the tropics and the polar circles), and two frigid zones (within the polar circles).
"The explorer mapped the journey through each of the five climate-based zones before finally reaching the frigid region near the North Pole."
In plain English: A zone is a specific area marked off for a particular purpose.
"The new sports zone includes several basketball courts and a swimming pool."
To divide into or assign sections or areas.
"The city planners decided to zone the coastal area exclusively for residential use."
In plain English: To zone means to stop paying attention and let your mind wander while you are supposed to be focusing on something else.
"The security guard zoned the suspicious package off to a safe area for inspection."
Usage: Use this verb when describing the act of dividing an area into specific sections, such as zoning land for different uses. It is often confused with similar terms like segment but specifically implies creating distinct functional zones within a larger space.
The word zone comes from the Latin zona, which was borrowed from the Ancient Greek zōnē. Originally meaning "girdle" or "belt," it entered English to describe a distinct area on Earth's surface.