The story
From Venus (“the planet”) + zone, from being the zone where a Venus-like planet will acquire a Venus-like climate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Venus zone
Today it means: A theoretical orbital zone around a star that will result in an Earth-like planet existing in an orbit in the zone having a runaway greenhouse effect, similar to that found on Venus in our Solar System. The inner edge of the zone is where solar radiation is intense enough to strip the atmosphere of a planet away. The outer edge is where solar radiation is insufficient to power a runaway greenhouse. Full definition →