zirconian, adj.

zirconian
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zirconian_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zirconianadjective

## Earlier version

- zirconian, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zirconian mean?

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

### How common is the adjective zirconian?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1800 | 0.007
1810 | 0.0057
1820 | 0.0048
1830 | 0.0042
1840 | 0.0005
1850 | 0.0003
1860 | 0.0002
1870 | 0.0002
1880 | 0.0002
1890 | 0.0001
1900 | 0.00009
1910 | 0.00009
1920 | 0.00003
1930 | 0.0001
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.0001

### How is the adjective zirconian pronounced?

#### British English

/zəːˈkəʊniən/
zur-KOH-nee-uhn
/zəˈkəʊniən/
zuh-KOH-nee-uhn

#### U.S. English

/zərˈkoʊniən/
zuhr-KOH-nee-uhn

### Where does the adjective zirconian come from?

Earliest known use

1800s

The earliest known use of the adjective zirconian is in the 1800s.

OED's earliest evidence for zirconian is from 1802, in the writing of Thomas Thomson, chemist.

zirconian is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zirconia n., ‑an suffix; zirconium n., ‑ian suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. ziraleet, n. 1794–
2. ziram, n. 1950–
3. zirbal, adj.?a1425–
4. zirbus, n. a1400–
5. zircaloy, n. 1953–
6. zircon, n. 1794–
7. zirconate, n. 1820–
8. zircon blue, n. & adj. 1928–
9. zircon earth, n. 1794–
10. zirconia, n. 1794–
11. zirconian, adj.1802–
12. zirconic, adj. 1804–
13. zirconite, n. 1806–
14. zirconitic, adj. 1883–
15. zirconium, n. 1808–
16. zircon-like, adj. 1857–
17. zircono-, comb. form
18. zirconolite, n. 1957–
19. zircon-syenite, n. 1813–
20. zirconyl, n. 1887–
21. zirkelite, n. 1895–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zirconia n., ‑an suffix; zirconium n., ‑ian suffix.
Partly < zirconia n. + ‑an suffix, and partly (in later use) < zircon- in zirconium n. + ‑ian suffix 2.

## Meaning & use

Chiefly Geology.

1. 1802–
   Of, relating to, or containing zircon or zirconium (cf. zirconic adj.); (of a mineral) having a (small) proportion of a typical constituent element replaced by zirconium.
   † zirconian syenite noun Obsolete the rock zircon-syenite.
   1. 1802

      > The zirconian salts have an austere taste.

      T. Thomson, System of Chemistry vol. III. 101
   2. 1827

      > Polymignite, a new mineral found sometimes in the zirconian sienite of Fredrickswärns.

      A. Ure, Dictionary of Chemistry (ed. 3) 667/1
   3. 1972

      > The appearance of zirconian SiO2-free minerals in the granitic fraction is rather strange.

      Nature 31 March 197/2
   4. 1999

      > The hydrated zirconian and silician complexes undoubtedly play an important role not only for the appearance of the {001} faces but for modification of the zircon habits in general.

      I. Kostov & R. I. Kostov, Crystal Habits of Minerals vi. 244
   geology minerals
   1. jargonic 1794–
      Pertaining to the mineral jargon.
   2. zirconian 1802–
      Of, relating to, or containing zircon or zirconium (cf. zirconic, adj.); (of a mineral) having a (small) proportion of a typical constituent…
   3. zirconic 1804–
      Of or relating to zirconium; (occasionally) of or relating to zircon.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. jargonic 1794–
      Pertaining to the mineral jargon.
   2. zirconian 1802–
      Of, relating to, or containing zircon or zirconium (cf. zirconic, adj.); (of a mineral) having a (small) proportion of a typical constituent…
   3. zirconic 1804–
      Of or relating to zirconium; (occasionally) of or relating to zircon.
   4. zirconitic 1883–
      Of the nature of or containing zirconite.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəːˈkəʊniən/
zur-KOH-nee-uhn
/zəˈkəʊniən/
zuh-KOH-nee-uhn

### U.S. English

/zərˈkoʊniən/
zuhr-KOH-nee-uhn

####

##### 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

## Frequency

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

zirconian 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 zirconian, adj., 1800–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1800 | 0.007
1810 | 0.0057
1820 | 0.0048
1830 | 0.0042
1840 | 0.0005
1850 | 0.0003
1860 | 0.0002
1870 | 0.0002
1880 | 0.0002
1890 | 0.0001
1900 | 0.00009
1910 | 0.00009
1920 | 0.00003
1930 | 0.0001
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.0001

zirconian, adj. was revised in March 2021.

zirconian, adj. was last modified in July 2023.