zeroage

Zeroage is a term used to indicate the starting point of an age or duration in various fields. It is not a fixed technical term and its precise meaning depends on the discipline or dataset in which it appears. The common idea is that zeroage marks time zero or birth-like origin from which subsequent measurements are taken.

In demographic and life-science contexts, zeroage often refers to birth or the moment an individual enters a cohort. In ecological or agricultural studies, zeroage can designate the starting age of a plant or animal in experiments or models. In data analysis and longitudinal studies, zeroage provides a baseline from which age-related changes are tracked.

In engineering, software, or reliability contexts, zeroage may denote the date or moment a system becomes operational, serving as time zero for maintenance schedules or failure-rate calculations. Because the term is not standardized, researchers should define zeroage explicitly in methods sections.

See also: baseline, origin, inception. The term is general and context-dependent; when encountered, readers should seek discipline-specific definitions or definitions provided in the relevant dataset or publication.