zamacueca, n.

zamacueca
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zamacueca_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zamacuecanoun

## Earlier version

- zamacueca in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zamacueca mean?

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

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the noun zamacueca?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1860 | 0.0011
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0009
1890 | 0.001
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0017
1920 | 0.002
1930 | 0.0022
1940 | 0.0024
1950 | 0.0024
1960 | 0.0023
1970 | 0.0028
1980 | 0.0022
1990 | 0.0021
2000 | 0.0022
2010 | 0.0025

### How is the noun zamacueca pronounced?

#### British English

/zamaˈkwɛka/
/samaˈkwɛka/

### Where does the noun zamacueca come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zamacueca is in the 1850s.

OED's earliest evidence for zamacueca is from 1855, in the writing of E. R. Smith.

zamacueca is a borrowing from Spanish.

### Nearby entries

1. zaire, n. 1967–
2. Zairean, n. & adj. 1972–
3. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
4. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
5. zaitech, n. 1986–
6. zakat, n. 1668–
7. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–
8. zakuska, n. 1885–
9. zalambdodont, adj. 1885–
10. zalcitabine, n. 1991–
11. zamacueca, n.1855–
12. Zamak, n. 1926–
13. zamang, n. 1819–
14. zamarra, n. 1841–
15. zama zama, n. 2006–
16. Zamazim, n. a1400–
17. Zambian, adj. & n. 1959–
18. Zambianization, n. 1964–
19. Zambianize, v. 1964–
20. zambo, n. 1819–
21. Zamboni, n. 1965–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Spanish.
American Spanish.

## Meaning & use

1. 1855–
   A South American, esp. Chilean, dance in which a couple move around one another, accompanied by chords on the guitar and rhythmical handclapping. Shortened as cueca n.
   1. 1855

      > The fashionable dances soon gave way to the more national Zamacúca. The Zamacúca has been very much reviled by foreigners, who have seen it only in sea-port towns.

      E. R. Smith, Araucanians vi. 65
   2. 1895

      > The ‘Zamacueca’ is an inimitable dance, in which the handkerchief plays a prominent part.

      L. Grove in L. Grove et al., Dancing (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) xii. 375
   3. 1917

      > Cueca or Zamacueca (from Chile).

      E. Hague, Spanish-Amer. Folk-songs 103 (title)
   4. 1974

      > The Creole people of the coast and plains [of South America] have been replacing the indigenous music of the mountains with their own music, especially with the ubiquitous cueca, or zamacueca.

      Encyclopædia Britannica Macropædia vol. I. 669/1
   dance music
   1. fandango 1766–
      A lively dance in 3/4 time, very popular in Spain and Spanish America.
   2. jarabe 1828–
      Any of several traditional Mexican partner dances involving zapateado steps, typically set to a series of short, connected tunes with contrasting…
   3. zamacueca 1855–
      A South American, esp. Chilean, dance in which a couple move around one another, accompanied by chords on the guitar and rhythmical handclapping…
   4. pascola 1904–
      A traditional Yaqui dance usually performed at festivals and weddings; a performer of this dance.
   5. bomba 1907–
      In Puerto Rican culture: an African-influenced dance, characterized by (usually improvised) sequences of intricate footwork and playful movements…
   6. marinera 1911–
      A lively South American dance derived from the cueca, performed by couples waving handkerchiefs; music to accompany this.
   7. cueca 1912–
      A South American dance.
   8. son montuno 1947–
      Cuban son music (see son, n.² 2), esp. a form featuring an extended passage of musical call and response over a flowing rhythm produced by a…
   9. pachanga 1956–
      A type of Latin American dance of Cuban origin, containing elements of the conga and merengue and other originally African characteristics; (a…
   10. lambada 1988–
       A fast, rhythmical, and erotic dance of Brazilian origin, danced by couples in close physical contact; also, the music to which it is danced…
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. fandango 1800–
      Music. A tune to which the fandango is danced.
   2. zamacueca 1855–
      A South American, esp. Chilean, dance in which a couple move around one another, accompanied by chords on the guitar and rhythmical handclapping…
   3. habanera 1875–
      A dance originating in Cuba, combining elements of European folk dance with influences from African dance traditions; a song or piece of music to…
   4. Jarabe Tapatio 1876–
      A Mexican folk dance representing courtship, now typically performed by a man and a woman dressed in traditional costume, and characterized by a…
   5. rumba 1912–
      An Afro-Cuban dance; a ballroom dance imitative of this, danced on the spot with a pronounced movement of the hips. Also: dancing in this style.
   6. tango 1913–
      A syncopated ballroom dance in 2/4 or 4/4 time introduced into Europe and North America from Argentina, related to the Cuban Habanera but probably…
   7. milonga 1914–
      An Argentinian dance, forerunner and faster version of the tango; a piece of music for this dance.
   8. guajira 1922–
      A traditional type of Cuban narrative song, with a rhythm that alternates rapidly between 6/8 and 3/4 time. Also: a type of flamenco dance associated…
   9. samba 1929–
      A Brazilian dance of African origin; a ballroom dance imitative of this; also, a piece of music such as accompanies this dance. Also attributive.
   10. son 1931–
       A form of characteristically Afro-Cuban music featuring prominent percussion, in which bongos, claves (clave, n.³), and other instruments combine…
   11. son Afro-Cubano 1942–
       Cuban son music or (in later use esp.) dance, esp. that showing a pronounced Afro-Cuban influence. See son, n.² 2.
   12. mambo 1946–
       A modified form of rumba, of Latin American origin; (a piece of) music for this dance or in its rhythm; (also occasionally) the dance rhythm itself.
   13. Afro 1949–
       (The name of) an Afro-Cuban (esp. salsa) dance or its music. rare.
   14. montuno 1951–
       An improvised passage in a rumba.
   15. cha-cha 1954–
       A type of ballroom dance to Latin American rhythm; also, the music for this dance. Hence as v. intransitive.
   16. guaracha 1956–
       ‘A lively Spanish dance in 3/8 or 3/4 time, usually accompanied on the guitar by the dancer himself’ (Stainer & Barrett 1876). Also, the music…
   17. pachanga 1956–
       A type of Latin American dance of Cuban origin, containing elements of the conga and merengue and other originally African characteristics; (a…
   18. bossa nova 1962–
       A style of Brazilian music related to the samba; a dance performed to this music.
   19. salsa 1975–
       A kind of dance music of Latin American origin which incorporates elements of jazz and rock music; a dance performed to this music.
   20. songo 1978–
       A genre of Cuban music incorporating traditional rumba elements into popular dance music, influenced by rock, jazz, and Brazilian music. Also (and in…
   21. bomba 1990–
       In Puerto Rican culture: an African-influenced dance, characterized by (usually improvised) sequences of intricate footwork and playful movements…
   22. timba 1999–
       A style of dance music originating in Cuba, combining elements of Cuban son, Afro-Cuban folk music, and Latin American salsa, rumba, and mambo with…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zamaˈkwɛka/
/samaˈkwɛka/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also 1800s -cuca.

## Frequency

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

zamacueca 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 zamacueca, n., 1860–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1860 | 0.0011
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0009
1890 | 0.001
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0017
1920 | 0.002
1930 | 0.0022
1940 | 0.0024
1950 | 0.0024
1960 | 0.0023
1970 | 0.0028
1980 | 0.0022
1990 | 0.0021
2000 | 0.0022
2010 | 0.0025

zamacueca, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zamacueca, n. was last modified in December 2024.