# green belt
## English
### Etymology

From green (adjective) +‎ belt (“band worn around the waist; thing resembling a belt, a strip or stripe”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɡriːn bɛlt/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈɡrin ˌbɛlt/
* Audio (General American):(file)

### Noun

green belt (plural green belts) (also attributively)
* Senses relating to an area of land with plants on it.
** A strip of land with plants in a place which is otherwise bare.
** A strip of land on which trees are planted to protect against desertification, soil erosion, etc.
    Hyponym: shelterbelt
** (urban studies)
*** A strip of land next to a building, open space, road, etc., with plants on it, intended for exercise or recreation.
*** (chiefly British) An area of agricultural land around an urban area that is protected from large-scale building.
    Synonym: (New Zealand) town belt
**** 2012, Andrew Martin, “Enter Yerkes”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 149:The LCC [London County Council] would initiate the campaign for the Green Belt, which the men at the top of London Transport would support.
* (martial arts)
** A belt which is green in colour worn by a person who has achieved a certain (usually intermediate) level of skill in a martial art, especially judo or karate; also, the level of skill represented by this belt.
    Coordinate terms: black belt, white belt
*** 1995, Elmar T. Schmeisser, “The University Dojo: Teaching a Traditional Martial Art in a Nontraditional Setting”, in Carol A. Wiley, editor, Martial Arts Teachers on Teaching (Io Series; 53), Berkeley, Calif.: Frog, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page 129:When the club is fully developed and has a reasonable spectrum of ranks in it, the training schedule should be stable to encourage the habit of training. […] The advanced (above green belt) class meets for an additional hour, three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
*** 2011, Yvonne Cruz, “Cruz Karate Studios”, in Grandmaster Freddie G. Cruz: Biography of a True Legend in the Martial Arts World, [S.l.]: Bookemon, →ISBN, page 217:He estimates it was around 1964 when the Japanese stylists of karate brought in the green belt to bridge the gap between white and brown.
*** 2014 October, Sharit Sinha, “The Revelation”, in Blood Rush, 3rd edition, [S.l.]: Sharit Sinha, published December 2017, →ISBN, page 36:Any green belt martial artist could've done that. Because they were just ordinary goons, hired guns.
** A person who has earned the rank of green belt in a martial art.
    Coordinate terms: black belt, white belt
*** 2012, Noel C., “What Karate Means to Me”, in Tom Hill, editor, Essays for Black Belt, Luton, Bedfordshire: Andrews UK, →ISBN, page 22:After a month I distinctly remember one of the ‘green belts’ giving me a thorough but gentle working over in one of the sparring sessions, I was impressed not just with his ability to defeat me, but with the ease with which he did it.
*** [2012, T. M. Kubiak, “Mentoring Black Belts and Green Belts”, in The Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt Handbook, Milwaukee, Wis.: ASQ Quality Press, →ISBN, part V (Mentoring Responsibilities), page 306:Develop a career progression ladder for black belts and green belts.Used by extension as a rank in the Six Sigma system of process improvement techniques.]

#### Alternative forms

* greenbelt

#### Derived terms

* grey belt

#### Related terms

* greenfield

#### See also

* bluebelt
* brownfield
* greyfield

### References

* ↑ “green belt, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “green belt, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Further reading

* green belt on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* green belt (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* Englebert