Zetlander, n.

zetlander
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zetlander_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# Zetlandernoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zetlander mean?

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

### How common is the noun Zetlander?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1770 | 0.033
1780 | 0.027
1790 | 0.047
1800 | 0.062
1810 | 0.062
1820 | 0.066
1830 | 0.07
1840 | 0.06
1850 | 0.062
1860 | 0.044
1870 | 0.027
1880 | 0.024
1890 | 0.02
1900 | 0.015
1910 | 0.013
1920 | 0.0098
1930 | 0.0066
1940 | 0.0026
1950 | 0.0015
1960 | 0.0009
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.0008
1990 | 0.0009
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0009

### Where does the noun Zetlander come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun Zetlander is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zetlander is from 1614, in the writing of William Lithgow, traveller.

### Nearby entries

1. zetacism, n. 1860–
2. zeta function, n. 1879–
3. zeta-ic, adj. 1840–1927
4. zeta potential, n. 1927–
5. zetetic, adj. & n. 1645–
6. zetetical, adj. & n. 1646–
7. zetetically, adv. 1665–
8. Zetetical Society, n. 1881–
9. zetetics, n. 1843–
10. Zetland, n. 1577–
11. Zetlander, n.1614–
12. Zetlandic, adj. 1701–
13. zetta-, comb. form
14. Zeuglodon, n. 1839–
15. zeuglodont, n. & adj. 1850–
16. zeuglodontoid, adj. & n. 1891
17. zeugma, n. c1450–
18. zeugmatic, adj. 1851–
19. zeugmatical, adj. 1610–
20. zeugmatically, adv. 1616–
21. zeugmatogram, n. 1973–

## Meaning & use

Now rare.

1. 1614–
   A native or inhabitant of the Shetland Islands; cf. Shetlander n. 1.
   Stressed as ˈZetlander.
   1. 1614

      > I haue seldome seene..better house-keepers, then be these Orkadians, and Zetlanders.

      W. Lithgow, Most Delectable Disc. Peregrination sig. G3
   2. 1701

      > Some Zetlanders went to the King with their Skin-Coats, laying the oppressed condition of their Countrey before him.

      J. Brand, Brief Description of Orkney, Zetland 116
   3. 1821

      > Sweyn Erickson, as good a Zetlander as ever rowed a boat to the haaf fishing.

      W. Scott, Pirate vol. I. ii. 23
   4. 1948

      > The Zetlander, situated as he is nearer to Bergen than to Aberdeen, has a closer racial affinity with Scandinavia than with Scotland.

      Scottish Hist. Review April 87
   5. 1996

      > Scottish nationalism, advocating independence within a united Europe, stimulated Zetlander sentiment for separation from Scotland in the 1980s and 1990s.

      J. B. Minahan, Nations without States 638
   1. Orcadian 1614–
      A native or inhabitant of the Orkney Islands.
   2. Zetlander 1614–
      A native or inhabitant of the Shetland Islands; cf. Shetlander, n. 1.
   3. Hebridean 1632–
      A native or inhabitant of the Hebrides.
   4. Shetlander 1690–
      A native or inhabitant of the Shetland Islands.
   5. Orkneyman 1730–
      A native or inhabitant of Orkney; = Orcadian, n.
   6. St. Kildan 1764–
      A native or inhabitant of the island of St. Kilda.
   7. Sheltie 1888–
      A person who is a native or inhabitant of the Shetland Islands.
   8. Lewisman 1927–
      A native or inhabitant of Lewis, the northern section of the island of Lewis with Harris in the Outer Hebrides.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

Zetlander is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 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 Zetlander, n., 1770–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1770 | 0.033
1780 | 0.027
1790 | 0.047
1800 | 0.062
1810 | 0.062
1820 | 0.066
1830 | 0.07
1840 | 0.06
1850 | 0.062
1860 | 0.044
1870 | 0.027
1880 | 0.024
1890 | 0.02
1900 | 0.015
1910 | 0.013
1920 | 0.0098
1930 | 0.0066
1940 | 0.0026
1950 | 0.0015
1960 | 0.0009
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.0008
1990 | 0.0009
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0009

Originally published as part of the entry for Zetland, n.

Zetland, n. was revised in June 2018.