zaguan, n.

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

# zaguannoun

## Earlier version

- zaguan in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zaguan mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zaguan. 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 zaguan?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1850 | 0.0055
1860 | 0.0054
1870 | 0.0051
1880 | 0.0069
1890 | 0.0066
1900 | 0.0078
1910 | 0.0097
1920 | 0.01
1930 | 0.01
1940 | 0.01
1950 | 0.0085
1960 | 0.0077
1970 | 0.0066
1980 | 0.005
1990 | 0.0047
2000 | 0.0047
2010 | 0.0046

### How is the noun zaguan pronounced?

#### British English

/zaˈɡwan/
/saˈɡwan/

### Where does the noun zaguan come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zaguan is from 1851, in Harper's Magazine.

zaguan is a borrowing from Spanish.

### Nearby entries

1. 'zackly | 'zactly, adv. 1886–
2. zad, n. 1669–
3. Zadokite, n. & adj. 1910–
4. zadruga, n. 1887–
5. zaffre | zaffer, n. 1662–
6. zaftig, adj. 1921–
7. zafu, n. 1965–
8. zag, n., adv., & v. 1793–
9. zagaie | zagaye, n. 1590–1698
10. Zaghlulist, n. & adj. 1921–
11. zaguan, n.1851–
12. Zahal, n. 1959–
13. zaibatsu, n. 1937–
14. Zaidi, n. 1709–
15. zaikai, n. 1968–
16. zaim, n. 1807–
17. zaire, n. 1967–
18. Zairean, n. & adj. 1972–
19. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
20. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
21. zaitech, n. 1986–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Spanish.
Spanish, = vestibule, hallway.

## Meaning & use

1. 1851–
   The passage running from the front door to the central patio in houses in South and Central America and in the south-western U.S.
   1. 1851

      > Don Pedro was heard within, moving toward the ‘Saguan’.

      Harper's Magazine September 465/2
   2. 1863

      > She had just seen Juanito's ghost in the saguan door.

      Rio Abajo Press 28 April 1/2
   3. 1880

      > It was a long, narrowing perspective of arcades, lattices, balconies, zaguans, dormer windows, and blue sky.

      G. W. Cable, Grandissimes xviii. 131
   4. 1921

      > There is the zaguan or vestibule at the outside, then the cancel or grating, and next the patio within.

      Chambers's Journal March 258/1
   5. 1921

      > A couple of Moors—in the vestibule or zaguan—conduct a peculiar performance.

      Chambers's Journal November 821/1
   6. 1927

      > Some stranger comes into the zaguan.

      D. H. Lawrence, Mornings in Mexico 12
   1. alley 1363–1540
      A (private) corridor, hallway, or covered walkway. Obsolete (but cf. sense II.6c).
   2. tresance 1428–1579
      A passage in or through a house; a corridor.
   3. passage a1525–
      A corridor giving access to the various rooms or divisions of a building, ship, etc., or running between two rooms; a gallery, lobby, or hall.
   4. close 1530–
      Scottish. An entry, a passage; (typically) a narrow passage between buildings leading from a street to dwellings or other buildings at the back.
   5. gallery 1541–
      A long narrow apartment, sometimes serving as a means of access to other parts of a house; a corridor.
   6. trance 1545–
      A passage between buildings, or across between two streets; an entry, an alley, a close; also, a passage into, within, or through a house.
   7. through-passage 1575–
      A passage through something; a route, channel, or corridor passing from one side of a place or structure to the other; a thoroughfare. Also: an…
   8. lobby 1596–
      A passage or corridor connected with one or more apartments in a building, or attached to a large hall, theatre, or the like; often used as a…
   9. passageway?1606–
      A way or path by which a person or thing may pass through, in, or out; spec. a corridor or enclosed path giving access between buildings or to…
   10. conduit 1624–1703
       Architecture. gen. A passage. Obsolete.
   11. gangway 1702–
       A passage in a building or (later also) a passenger vehicle; spec. an aisle between rows of seats in a theatre, train, aircraft, etc.
   12. vista 1708–
       An open corridor or long passage in or through a large building; an interior portion of a building affording a continuous view.
   13. glide c1710
       A passage; an avenue (of trees). Obsolete.
   14. aisle 1734
       gen. A similar division of the main space of any building or room. In 18th-cent. use also: †a passage or corridor (obsolete).
   15. gallery 1756–
       Architecture. A long narrow passage either made in the thickness of a wall, or supported on corbels, having its open side towards the interior of a…
   16. corridor 1777–
       A long passage inside a building, with doors that give access into adjacent rooms. Also: a similar passage in a ship.
   17. traverse 1822–
       Architecture. A gallery or loft linking parts of a large building.
   18. heck 1825–
       (See quots.) northern dialect.
   19. rotunda 1847–
       North American. The main hall of a public building, often one with a domed ceiling; a lobby; a concourse.
   20. scutchell 1847–
       A narrow lane or passageway between buildings or hedges. Also: a narrow passage inside a house. Cf. twitchel, n.¹
   21. areaway 1848–
       A sunken court giving access to the basement of a house (cf. area, n. I.i.2b); (also) an area serving as a passageway.
   22. zaguan 1851–
       The passage running from the front door to the central patio in houses in South and Central America and in the south-western U.S.
   23. hall 1857–
       Originally and chiefly U.S. A passageway within a building, typically giving access to various rooms by means of doors or stairs; a corridor. Cf. h…
   24. aisleway 1868–
       = aisle, n. 3.
   25. pend 1893–
       An arch, an archway; an arched or vaulted roof or canopy; the vaulted ground floor of a tower or fortified building; a covered passage or entry; (in…
   26. dogtrot 1901–
       In the southern United States: an open-ended, usually broad, passage which runs through the centre of a house, flanked by two enclosed living spaces…
   27. fairway 1903–
       A passageway, gangway, or thoroughfare.
   28. dog run 1904–
       = dogtrot, n. 3.
   29. dog walk 1938–
       = dogtrot, n. 3.
   30. walkout 1947–
       North American. A doorway or passage providing outdoor access; access to an outside space.
   31. coulisse 1949–
       A corridor; also figurative, as a place ‘behind the scenes’ (cf. corridor, n. 4).
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zaˈɡwan/
/saˈɡwan/

####

##### 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 saguan.

## Frequency

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

zaguan 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 zaguan, n., 1850–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1850 | 0.0055
1860 | 0.0054
1870 | 0.0051
1880 | 0.0069
1890 | 0.0066
1900 | 0.0078
1910 | 0.0097
1920 | 0.01
1930 | 0.01
1940 | 0.01
1950 | 0.0085
1960 | 0.0077
1970 | 0.0066
1980 | 0.005
1990 | 0.0047
2000 | 0.0047
2010 | 0.0046

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

zaguan, n. was last modified in December 2024.