ZAPU, n.

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

# ZAPUnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun ZAPU mean?

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

About 0.2occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.19
1970 | 0.19
1980 | 0.18
1990 | 0.2
2000 | 0.19
2010 | 0.16

### Where does the noun ZAPU come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun ZAPU is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for ZAPU is from 1961, in the Guardian.

### Nearby entries

1. Zapatist, n. & adj. 1911–
2. Zapatista, n. & adj. 1911–
3. zapote, n. 1842–
4. Zapotec, n. & adj. 1797–
5. zappe, v. c1600
6. zapped, adj. 1962–
7. zapper, n. 1969–
8. zapping, n. 1972–
9. zappy, adj. 1969–
10. zaptieh, n. 1869–
11. ZAPU, n.1961–
12. Zar, n. 1868–
13. Zarathustrian, adj. & n. 1859–
14. Zarathustrianism, n. 1864–
15. Zarathustric, adj. 1848–
16. Zarathustrism, n. 1871–
17. zaratite, n. 1858–
18. zarcole, n. 1585–
19. zarda, n. 1899–
20. zardozi, n. 1871–
21. zarf | zurf, n. 1836–

## Meaning & use

1. 1961–
   Zimbabwe African People's Union.
   1. 1961

      > A new African political party, to be known as the Zimbabwe African People's Union, has been launched in Southern Rhodesia..by Mr. J. M. N. Nkomo... Mr. Nkomo said..ZAPU would press for immediate negotiations for a fresh constitutional arrangement.

      Guardian 18 December 1/3
   2. 1972

      > The rival parties Z.A.P.U. and Z.A.N.U.

      J. Biggs-Davison, Africa—Hope Deferred xi. 100
   3. 1977

      > Mr. Moyo..was with Nkomo in ZAPU before the revolt which Nkomo faced prior to 1963.

      Daily Times (Lagos) 27 January 3/2
   politics
   1. Mahdism 1884–
      The belief in or adherence to the Mahdi or a Mahdi.
   2. umma 1946–
      With capital initial. (The name of) a nationalist political party founded in Sudan in 1945. Now more fully the National Umma Party.
   3. Mau Mau 1950–
      More fully Mau Mau Association. An African secret society, originating among the Kikuyu and active in the 1950s, which favoured the use of armed…
   4. TANU 1957–
      The name of an African nationalist political party (1954–77) in Tanganyika and subsequently Tanzania.
   5. African socialism 1959–
      A form of socialism specific to or adapted for Africa and its culture; spec. (sometimes with capital initials) the name of a kind of socialism…
   6. uhuru 1959–
      National independence of an African country; freedom, esp. from colonial rule or foreign influence; self-determination.
   7. UNIP 1959–
      United National Independence Party (of Zambia).
   8. KANU 1960–
      The name of a Kenyan political party.
   9. Nkrumahism 1960–
      The socialist and pan-Africanist principles and policies associated with the Ghanaian political leader Kwame Nkrumah; adherence to or support of…
   10. U.P.C. 1961–
       Uganda People's Congress.
   11. ZAPU 1961–
       Zimbabwe African People's Union.
   12. familyhood 1962–
       = ujamaa, n. 1 Now historical.
   13. SWANU 1962–
       An African nationalist organization in Namibia. Cf. SWAPO, n.
   14. SWAPO 1962–
       An African nationalist organization in Namibia. Cf. SWANU, n.
   15. ujamaa 1962–
       A form of African socialism implemented in Tanzania by Julius Nyerere, the country's first president (1964–85), whose central policies included the…
   16. Frelimo 1963–
       The nationalist liberation party of Mozambique, founded in 1962, which formed the government of the single-party socialist state after…
   17. harambee 1963–
       The action or fact of working together; a spirit of civic unity or cooperation among Kenyans. Originally as a slogan and rallying cry used by Jomo…
   18. ZANU 1963–
       Zimbabwe African National Union.
   19. ELF 1965–
       Eritrean Liberation Front, a movement formed in 1960 with the aim of achieving independence from Ethiopia; cf. EPLF, n.
   20. Nibmar 1966–
       The policy of opposing recognition of the white minority government which proclaimed the independence of Rhodesia (subsequently Zimbabwe) from…
   21. UNITA 1967–
       National Union for the Total Independence of Angola.
   22. Nkrumahization 1968–
       Reform or adaptation in accordance with Nkrumahist principles.
   23. EPLF 1974–
       Eritrean People's Liberation Front, formed in 1970 as a splinter group of the ELF (ELF, n.) with the aim of achieving independence from Ethiopia.
   24. Polisario 1975–
       An independence movement in Western (formerly Spanish) Sahara, formed in May 1973. Frequently attributive.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also Zapu.

## Frequency

ZAPU typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.

ZAPU is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 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 ZAPU, n., 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.19
1970 | 0.19
1980 | 0.18
1990 | 0.2
2000 | 0.19
2010 | 0.16

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

Z, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.