zingana, n.²

zingana
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zingana_n2%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2020

# zingananoun2

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zingana mean?

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

### How common is the noun zingana?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1920 | 0.0003
1930 | 0.0003
1940 | 0.0003
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0004
1970 | 0.0004
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

### How is the noun zingana pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪŋɡənə/
ZING-guh-nuh

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɪŋɡənə/
ZING-guh-nuh

### Where does the noun zingana come from?

Earliest known use

1910s

The earliest known use of the noun zingana is in the 1910s.

OED's earliest evidence for zingana is from 1911, in Bulletin Bureau Agric. Intelligence & Plant-dis.

zingana is perhaps a borrowing from a language of Gabon.

### Nearby entries

1. Zindikite, n. 1694–
2. Zindiq, n. 1667–
3. zine, n. 1946–
4. zineb, n. 1950–
5. zines, int.?1701–10
6. zinester, n. 1986–
7. zinfandel, n. 1880–
8. zing, v. 1899–
9. zing, int. & n. 1875–
10. zingana, n.¹ 1883
11. zingana, n.²1911–
12. Zingani, n. 1581–1879
13. Zingara, n. 1756–
14. Zingaro, n. 1600–
15. zingel, n. 1803–
16. zingelin perch, n. 1803
17. zinger, n. 1906–
18. Zingg, n. 1941–
19. zingho, n. 1743
20. zingiber, n.?1720–
21. zingiberaceous, adj. 1821–

## Etymology

### Summary

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a borrowing from a language of Gabon.
Origin uncertain, perhaps < a language of Gabon.

Compare French zingana (1911 in the journal cited by the source of quot. 1911…
Origin uncertain, perhaps < a language of Gabon.

Compare French zingana (1911 in the journal cited by the source of quot. 1911).

### Notes

The wood is also sometimes known as izingana.

## Meaning & use

1. 1911–
   The striped wood of any of various African trees, especially from a leguminous tree of the genus Microberlinia.
   More usually called zebrawood or zebrano.
   1. 1911

      > The Zingana which is yellow, veined with black, is a splendid wood and has no equal.

      Bulletin Bureau Agric. Intelligence & Plant-dis. March 621
   2. 1947

      > Zebrawood, also known as Zingana and Zebrano, is a tropical wood imported from Africa.

      J. C. Rich, Materials & Methods of Sculpture x. 297
   3. 1973

      > The grapefruit knife's got a stainless steel blade, zingana wood handle.

      Observer 8 April (Colour Supplement) 13/1 (advertisement)
   4. 2009

      > Much illegal timber (high-value woods such as bété, bibolo, bubinga, sapelli, and zingana) is used to make furniture.

      G. Topa et al., Rainforests Cameroon v. 78
   woodworking
   1. speckle-wood 1619–
      (See speckled, adj. compounds C.1b).
   2. speckled wood 1657–
      a. A variety of wood having speckled markings; esp. the South American snake-wood or letter-wood, Brosimum aubletii; b. a brown butterfly with…
   3. pigeon wood?1740–
      Any of various tropical or subtropical New World trees or shrubs providing wood used in cabinetwork or building, or having fruit which is sought…
   4. zebrawood 1768–
      The striped wood of any of various tropical trees and shrubs, esp. of the genera Connarus (family Connaraceae) and Microberlinia (family Fabaceae)…
   5. snake-wood 1843–
      The wood of the South American timber-tree Brosimum Aubletii (or Piratinera guianensis), so called from its snake-like markings; letter-wood; also…
   6. tiger-wood 1858–
      A streaked black and brown cabinet-maker's wood: = itaka-wood, n.; also, a variety of citron-wood. See also tiger-cat, n.
   7. tortoise-wood 1866–
      See quot.
   8. zebrano 1908–
      More fully zebrano wood. The striped wood of any of various species of African trees, esp. those of the genus Microberlinia (family Fabaceae)…
   9. zingana 1911–
      The striped wood of any of various African trees, especially from a leguminous tree of the genus Microberlinia.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪŋɡənə/
ZING-guh-nuh

### U.S. English

/ˈzɪŋɡənə/
ZING-guh-nuh

####

##### 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

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

zingana 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 zingana, n.², 1920–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1920 | 0.0003
1930 | 0.0003
1940 | 0.0003
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0004
1970 | 0.0004
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

Originally published as part of the entry for zingana, n.¹

zingana, n.² was revised in September 2020.

zingana, n.² was last modified in July 2023.