zibet, n.

zibet
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zibet_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zibetnoun

## Earlier version

- zibet in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zibet mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1760 | 0.041
1770 | 0.035
1780 | 0.031
1790 | 0.03
1800 | 0.029
1810 | 0.028
1820 | 0.028
1830 | 0.0092
1840 | 0.0077
1850 | 0.0068
1860 | 0.0036
1870 | 0.003
1880 | 0.0031
1890 | 0.0025
1900 | 0.0014
1910 | 0.0014
1920 | 0.0012
1930 | 0.0011
1940 | 0.0011
1950 | 0.0012
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0011
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0009
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0006

### How is the noun zibet pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪbɪt/
ZIB-it

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɪbət/
ZIB-uht

### Where does the noun zibet come from?

Earliest known use

late 1500s

The earliest known use of the noun zibet is in the late 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for zibet is from 1594, in the writing of Thomas Blundeville, author and translator.

zibet is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin zibethum.

### Nearby entries

1. Zhdanovite, adj. 1957–
2. zho, n. 1841–
3. zhomo, n. 1841–
4. zhuyin zimu, n. 1938–
5. zhuzh, n. 1968–
6. zhuzh, v. 1970–
7. zhuzhy, adj. 1968–
8. ziamet, n. 1807–
9. ziarat, n. 1776–
10. zibeline, n. 1585–
11. zibet, n.1594–
12. zibet-muff, n. 1685
13. zibib, n. 1836–
14. ziczac, n. 1844–
15. zidovudine, n. 1987–
16. Ziegfeld, n. 1913–
17. Ziegler, n. 1957–
18. Ziegler-Natta, n. 1965–
19. Ziehl, n. 1892–
20. Ziehl-Neelsen, n. 1892–
21. ziff, n. 1917–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin zibethum.
< medieval Latin zibethum (compare Italian zibetto, French zibet, German zibeth): see civet n.1

## Meaning & use

1. 1594–
   A variant of civet n.1, the animal and the perfume; used distinctively (after Buffon) for the Asiatic species of Viverra, V. zibetha, and the secretion it yields (called also zibethum).
   1. 1594

      > Next to her genitories, shee hath a little bagge..into the which doeth fall the precious greace or humour, which they call Ciuet and Zibeth.

      T. Blundeville, Exercises v. f. 258
   2. 1607

      > The Zibeth, or Sivet-cat.

      E. Topsell, Historie of Foure-footed Beastes 756
   3. 1669

      > You would conceive..that some Chymist had dearly purchas'd their more terrene excrements, out of them to exalt his occidental zibith.

      Address to Hopeful Young Gentry 44
   4. 1780

      > The zibet is probably the civet of Asia, of the East Indies, and of Arabia.

      W. Smellie, translation of Comte de Buffon, Natural History General & Particular vol. V. 242
   5. 1843

      > The marks on the lateral and anterior parts of the neck are very dark in the Zibet.

      Penny Cyclopaedia vol. XXVI. 406
   perfumery animals
   1. ewrose c1350–1486
      Rose-water.
   2. stacte 1382–
      A fragrant spice referred to by ancient writers; properly, the finest kind of myrrh, the exudation of the living tree (Pliny N.H. xii. xxxv), but…
   3. oil of roses a1398–
      = rose oil, n.; attar of roses.
   4. rose water a1398–
      Water distilled from roses or scented with essence of roses, used as a perfume or flavouring, or in medicinal preparations, etc.
   5. sandal c1400–
      = sandalwood, n., in its various applications. †Also, an ointment made of powdered sandalwood.
   6. musk?a1425–
      A substance which imitates or resembles musk; any of various synthetic compounds having the characteristic persistent odour of musk and often used in…
   7. damask water?1520–
      attributive. = Made at or brought from Damascus, as damask blade, damask sword, etc. (see III.7); damask… Rose-water distilled from Damask roses.
   8. malabathrum 1543–
      The aromatic leaf of a South Asian plant (probably any of several Indian trees of the genus Cinnamomum (family Lauraceae), esp. C. tamala), which…
   9. orris 1545–
      = orris root, n.
   10. civet 1553–
       A yellowish or brownish unctuous substance, having a strong musky smell, obtained from sacs or glands in the anal pouch of several animals of the…
   11. ambracan 1555–84
       Ambergris.
   12. rose cake 1559–
       A cake of compressed rose petals used as a perfume for linens, etc. Now historical.
   13. lavender-water 1563–
       A perfume compounded, with alcohol and ambergris, from the distilled flowers of lavender.
   14. oil of spikenard 1565–
       (See quots.).
   15. zibet 1594–
       A variant of civet, n.¹, the animal and the perfume; used distinctively (after Buffon) for the Asiatic species of Viverra, V. zibetha, and the…
   16. orange-flower water 1595–
       An aqueous solution of orange flowers; the fragrant watery distillate left over in the preparation of neroli oil and used for culinary purposes…
   17. orris powder?1600–
       Powdered orris root, prized for its aromatic fragrance and (formerly) its medicinal properties.
   18. spike-oil 1611–
   19. angel water 1634–
       An aqueous extract of various flowers, esp. rose, myrtle, and orange-flowers, used as a perfume or cosmetic. Also: †angelica water (angelica water, n.…
   20. cypress-powder 1634–1790
   21. angelica 1653–76
       Angelica water; = angelica water, n. Cf. angel water, n. Obsolete. rare.
   22. jasmine 1670–
       A perfume derived from the flowers of the jasmine.
   23. jessamy 1671
       A perfume or cosmetic made from jasmine.
   24. rosat 1674–1789
       = rose oil, n.
   25. frangipane 1676–
       A perfume prepared from, or imitating the odour of, the flower of the red jasmine.
   26. marechale 1676–
       A scented powder made of iris, dried orange flowers, ‘roses of province’, calamus, souchet, and other ingredients; more fully marechale powder…
   27. orangery 1676–1744
       A scent or perfume extracted from the orange flower. Also: snuff scented with this perfume. Obsolete.
   28. tuberose 1682–
       A perfume extracted from the flowers of this.
   29. jasmine-water 1750
       A perfume made from jasmine-flowers.
   30. otto 1759–
       = attar, n. Usually in otto of roses.
   31. rose geranium 1773–
       Any of several geraniums with a scent of roses, esp. Pelargonium capitatum and P. graveolens, or their cultivated varieties; (also) a perfume…
   32. millefleurs 1775–
       A perfume distilled from flowers of different kinds. Also figurative.
   33. new-mown hay 1789
       Freshly cut, just mown.
   34. attar 1798–
       A very fragrant, volatile, essential oil obtained from the petals of the rose; fragrant essence (of roses).
   35. eau-de-Cologne 1802–
       French for ‘water’, occurring in the names of several liquids, used as scents or in medicine, as See… A perfume consisting of alcohol and various…
   36. Cologne 1814–
       (a) A pigment consisting of a mixture of chromate and sulfate of lead with sulfate of lime. (b) In full Cologne water. = eau-de-Cologne n. at eau, n.…
   37. dedes 1817–
       Musk obtained from the rasse.
   38. eau de Portugal 1825–
       French for ‘water’, occurring in the names of several liquids, used as scents or in medicine, as See… A perfume comprising an essential oil known…
   39. verbena 1837–
       In full oil (also essence) of verbena, verbena oil. A lemon-scented essential oil obtained from the leaves of lemon verbena, Aloysia citrodora, or…
   40. rondeletia 1838–
       A perfume prepared from a mixture of lavender and cloves, and resembling the characteristic scent of rondeletias.
   41. bay-rum 1840–
       An aromatic liquid, used by perfumers, obtained by distilling rum in which bay-leaves have been steeped.
   42. Florida water 1840–
       Used attributively to designate things connected with Florida in origin or manufacture. Florida moss n. = longbeard, n. 2,Tillandsia usneoides; also…
   43. citronelle 1841–
       More fully citronelle oil. Citronella oil (see citronella, n. 2). Now rare.
   44. patchouli 1843–
       A penetrating and lasting perfume prepared from the patchouli plant (see sense 2).
   45. citronella 1849–
       A lemon-scented oil obtained from two South Asian grasses, Cymbopogon nardus and C. winterianus, used in perfumery and as an insect repellent; more…
   46. gardenia 1851–
       A perfume imitating the scent of a gardenia flower; the scent of a gardenia flower, esp. as used in a perfume, cosmetic, etc.
   47. sandalwood oil 1851–
       A strongly aromatic oil obtained by distillation of sandalwood (Santalum) used in perfumes and cosmetics and formerly as a genito-urinary antiseptic.
   48. Ess Bouquet 1855–
       The trade name of a perfume. Also elliptical as Ess.
   49. marmala water 1857–
       A liquid distilled from the flowers of the bael tree, Aegle marmelos, used in Sri Lanka as a perfume for sprinkling.
   50. mignonette 1858–
       A perfume derived from or resembling that of the flowers of mignonette.
   51. spikenard oil 1861–
       attributive, as spikenard garden, spikenard oil.
   52. sandalwood 1865–
       A perfume derived from sandalwood oil.
   53. serpolet 1866–
       In full serpolet oil: see quot.
   54. cananga water 1871–
       (Chiefly in form kananga water) a type of cologne or toilet water composed of cananga oil or ylang-ylang oil mixed with other essential oils…
   55. ylang-ylang 1876–
       An anonaceous tree (Canangium odoratum) of Malaysia, the Philippines, etc., with fragrant greenish-yellow flowers from which a perfume is distilled…
   56. flower-water 1886–
       Distilled water containing the essential oil of flowers.
   57. lily 1890–
       The scent of lily of the valley, esp. as used in cosmetics, etc.
   58. lilac 1895–
       The scent of lilac, esp. as used in cosmetics, etc.
   59. stephanotis 1895–
       A perfume said to be prepared from the flowers of Stephanotis floribunda.
   60. tea rose 1897–
       A perfume made from or named after this rose.
   61. chypre 1898–
       A heavy perfume based on sandalwood, perhaps originally from Cyprus.
   62. Peau d'Espagne 1898–
       A scent designed to suggest the aroma of this leather.
   63. violette de Parme 1904–
       = Parma, n.¹ 1b,1c.
   64. poppy 1905–
       A perfume derived from or imitating the smell of the poppy.
   65. Parma violet 1907–
       In full Parma violet. A perfume made from a violet of this kind or imitating it.
   66. wallflower 1907–
       (a) Applied to plants of other genera. native wallflower, the Tasmanian plant Pultenæa subumbrosa (N.O. Leguminosæ); also, in Australia, one of the…
   67. eau de parfum 1941–
       A formulation of a perfume that contains a lower percentage of fragrant essential oils than parfum (parfum, n. 2b), but a higher percentage than…
   68. parfum 1947–
       spec. A formulation of a perfume that has the highest concentration of fragrant essential oils. Cf. eau de parfum, n., eau de toilette n.
   69. whorehouse perfume 1949–
       A strong-smelling perfume, suggestive of the kind of perfume typically supposed to be worn by prostitutes.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zibet 1594–
      A variant of civet, n.¹, the animal and the perfume; used distinctively (after Buffon) for the Asiatic species of Viverra, V. zibetha, and the…
   2. fossa 1792–
      A long-tailed cat-like mammal, Cryptoprocta ferox (family Viverridae), which is a nocturnal and arboreal predator endemic to Madagascar, where it…
   3. tangalung 1822–
      The civet cat of Sumatra and Java, Viverra tangalunga; the Sumatran civet.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. civet 1553–
      A yellowish or brownish unctuous substance, having a strong musky smell, obtained from sacs or glands in the anal pouch of several animals of the…
   2. cod 1577–1873
      A musk gland or scent gland of a musk deer or other animal. Cf. musk-cod, n. 1. Obsolete.
   3. zibet 1594–
      A variant of civet, n.¹, the animal and the perfume; used distinctively (after Buffon) for the Asiatic species of Viverra, V. zibetha, and the…
   4. African civet 1712–
      †a. A musky secretion obtained from a civet of sub-Saharan Africa, Civettictis civetta, used in perfumery (obsolete. rare); b. (more fully African…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪbɪt/
ZIB-it

### U.S. English

/ˈzɪbət/
ZIB-uht

####

##### 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

## Forms

### Variant forms

1500s– zibeth, 1600s zibith, ( sebat), 1700s– zibet.

## Frequency

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

zibet 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 zibet, n., 1760–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1760 | 0.041
1770 | 0.035
1780 | 0.031
1790 | 0.03
1800 | 0.029
1810 | 0.028
1820 | 0.028
1830 | 0.0092
1840 | 0.0077
1850 | 0.0068
1860 | 0.0036
1870 | 0.003
1880 | 0.0031
1890 | 0.0025
1900 | 0.0014
1910 | 0.0014
1920 | 0.0012
1930 | 0.0011
1940 | 0.0011
1950 | 0.0012
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0011
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0009
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0006

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zibet-muff, n. 1685
   A muff made of civet fur.

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

zibet, n. was last modified in June 2025.