zombify, v.

zombify
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zombify_v%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2005

# zombifyverb

## Factsheet

### What does the verb zombify mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the verb zombify. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the verb zombify?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1950 | 0.0006
1960 | 0.0014
1970 | 0.0026
1980 | 0.0034
1990 | 0.004
2000 | 0.0046
2010 | 0.0057

### How is the verb zombify pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɒmbᵻfʌɪ/
ZOM-buh-figh

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɑmbəˌfaɪ/
ZAHM-buh-figh

### Where does the verb zombify come from?

Earliest known use

1950s

The earliest known use of the verb zombify is in the 1950s.

OED's earliest evidence for zombify is from 1950, in New York Times.

zombify is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zombie n., ‑fy suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. zollverein, n. 1843–
2. zolotnik, n. 1783–
3. zombie, n. 1788–
4. zombie apocalypse, n. 1982–
5. zombied, adj. 1972–
6. zombie-esque, adj. 1946–
7. zombie-like, adj. & adv. 1932–
8. zombie worm, n. 2005–
9. zombification, n. 1968–
10. zombified, adj. 1965–
11. zombify, v.1950–
12. zombocalypse, n. 2007–
13. zomboid, adj. 1963–
14. zom-com, n. 2004–
15. zomotherapeutic, adj. 1900–
16. zomotherapy, n. 1900–
17. zona, n. 1706–
18. zona ignea, n. 1818–
19. zonal, adj. 1867–
20. zonality, n. 1909–
21. zonally, adv. 1873–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zombie n., ‑fy suffix.
< zombie n. + ‑fy suffix. Compare later zombified adj.

## Meaning & use

1. 1950–
   transitive. To transform into a zombie. Chiefly in extended use: to make easy to control; to stupefy; to deprive of energy or vitality (cf. zombie n. I.3a).
   1. 1950

      > Men can be zombified or killed.

      New York Times 13 September 26/7
   2. 1983

      > Moms are giving no quarter, frantic that their teens will be permanently zombified and grow up to act like David Hartman.

      Washington Post (Nexis) 6 February 37
   3. 1990

      > A fine cast is zombified under..[his] drab direction.

      Time (Nexis) 16 April 12
   4. 1998

      > One..had been officially classified a zombie by the Haitian High Court (an alleged sorcerer was convicted of zombifying him).

      Guardian 14 October ii. 17/1
   5. 2003

      > The aftermath of a meteorite shower zombifies most of the community.

      Fangoria October 43/2
   1. amaze Old English–1769
      transitive. To stun or stupefy (a person); to daze; to bewilder, perplex. Obsolete.
   2. sweve Old English–1275
      transitive. To put to sleep (or to death), lull to rest; also, to stupefy.
   3. maze c1390–
      transitive. To stupefy or daze; to befuddle; †to render crazed, distraught, or alarmed (obsolete). Usually in passive. Now chiefly archaic and reg…
   4. daze a1400–
      To prostrate the mental faculties of (a person), as by a blow on the head, a violent shock, weariness, intoxicating drink, etc.; to benumb or…
   5. fordull a1400–1578
      transitive. To make dull; to stupefy. Only in past participle.
   6. stupefy?a1425–
      transitive. Originally: †to cause loss of physical sensation in (a part of the body); to dull or deaden (the nerves, senses, etc.) (obsolete). In…
   7. dull c1440–
      To render sluggish or inert; to deprive of quickness, sharpness, or activity; to stupefy (a person, or the mind, understanding, wits, etc.).
   8. entrance 1569–
      transitive. To put (a person or animal) into an unconscious or half-conscious state; spec. to put into a hypnotic state. Now somewhat archaic and rare…
   9. damp 1570–1726
      To stifle (the faculties) with noxious ‘fumes’; to stupefy, benumb, daze. Obsolete.
   10. daunt 1581–1846
       To daze, stupefy. Obsolete exc. dialect.
   11. stupefact 1583–
       transitive. To stupefy (in various senses); to dull or deaden (the senses, intellect, emotions, etc.); to stun, daze, or bewilder (a person). Also…
   12. trance 1597–
       transitive. To throw into a trance or a similar state; †to stupefy; to entrance, enrapture. Chiefly poetic.
   13. astound 1600–1727
       To deprive of consciousness, stupefy. Obsolete.
   14. mull a1616–87
       transitive. To make mild, soften, thaw. Obsolete.
   15. doze 1617–1818
       transitive. To stupefy; to muddle; to make drowsy or dull; to bewilder, confuse, perplex. Obsolete.
   16. soporate 1623–78
       transitive. To put to sleep; to dull, stupefy.
   17. consopite 1647–85
       transitive. To lay or lull to sleep; to quiet, compose; to stupefy. (Usually figurative.)
   18. obstupefying 1660–
       Stupefying, bewildering.
   19. dozzle a1670
       transitive. To render stupid; to stupefy.
   20. infatuate 1712
       To stupefy (the senses). Obsolete. rare.
   21. smoor 1718
       transitive. figurative or transferred. To conceal or hide; to suppress; to deaden, stupefy, etc.
   22. silly 1859–
       transitive. To stupefy, stun. Cf. silly, adj. A.III.8a. In later use English regional (Lincolnshire).
   23. maizel 1869–
       transitive. To stupefy, bewilder.
   24. zombify 1950–
       transitive. To transform into a zombie. Chiefly in extended use: to make easy to control; to stupefy; to deprive of energy or vitality (cf. zombie, n.…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɒmbᵻfʌɪ/
ZOM-buh-figh

### U.S. English

/ˈzɑmbəˌfaɪ/
ZAHM-buh-figh

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1900s–
   zombiefy, zombify

## Frequency

zombify typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zombify is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zombify, v., 1950–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1950 | 0.0006
1960 | 0.0014
1970 | 0.0026
1980 | 0.0034
1990 | 0.004
2000 | 0.0046
2010 | 0.0057

### Frequency of zombify, v., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.032
2018 | 0.03
2019 | 0.03
2020 | 0.033
2021 | 0.036
2022 | 0.034
2023 | 0.036
2024 | 0.037

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zombified, adj. 1965–
   Transformed into a zombie. Chiefly in extended…

1. zombification, n. 1968–
   The process of becoming a zombie. Chiefly in…

zombify, v. was first published in June 2005.

zombify, v. was last modified in July 2023.