zarda, n.

zarda
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zarda_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1993; not fully revised

# zardanoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zarda mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1890 | 0.0002
1900 | 0.0002
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0004
1930 | 0.0004
1940 | 0.0007
1950 | 0.0011
1960 | 0.0016
1970 | 0.0021
1980 | 0.0025
1990 | 0.0027
2000 | 0.0029
2010 | 0.0031

### How is the noun zarda pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɑːrdə/

### Where does the noun zarda come from?

Earliest known use

1890s

The earliest known use of the noun zarda is in the 1890s.

OED's earliest evidence for zarda is from 1899, in Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency.

zarda is a borrowing from Persian.

Etymons: Persian zarda, Urdu zarda.

### Nearby entries

1. zappy, adj. 1969–
2. zaptieh, n. 1869–
3. ZAPU, n. 1961–
4. Zar, n. 1868–
5. Zarathustrian, adj. & n. 1859–
6. Zarathustrianism, n. 1864–
7. Zarathustric, adj. 1848–
8. Zarathustrism, n. 1871–
9. zaratite, n. 1858–
10. zarcole, n. 1585–
11. zarda, n.1899–
12. zardozi, n. 1871–
13. zarf | zurf, n. 1836–
14. zari, n. 1969–
15. zariba, n. 1849–
16. zariba, v. 1885–
17. zarnich, n. 1612–
18. Zarp, n. 1895–
19. zarzuela, n. 1888–
20. zat, n. 1934–
21. zatch, n. 1950–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Persian.
Etymons: Persian zarda, Urdu zarda.
< Persian, Urdu zarda, cognate with Sanskrit harita yellow.

## Meaning & use

1. 1899–
   A Persian and Indian sweet dish of rice cooked with saffron and often almonds and raisins or sultanas.
   1. 1899

      > Biryáni..is accompanied by zarda or saffroned and sugared rice with sultána raisins and almonds.

      Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency vol. IX: pt. ii. iii. 113
   2. 1953

      > ‘I know, I know, pulao, zarda, roast spiced fowl, silver-covered betel leaves, sherbet...’ His hunger dwelt on taste and smell, but the chaprassi continued undeterred.

      A. Hosain, Phoenix Fled 168
   3. 1971

      > The silver coated, ice-cooled Banarasi patti stuffed with fragrant zardah is available at odd stalls.

      Illustrated Weekly of India 4 April 53/1
   food and cooking
   1. pilau 1609–
      A dish, partly of Middle Eastern, partly and ultimately of South Asian origin, consisting of rice (or, in certain areas, wheat) cooked in stock with…
   2. mochi 1616–
      In Japan: a cake made from glutinous rice, steamed and pounded, sometimes with the addition of other ingredients. Also (more fully mochi rice)…
   3. yellow rice 1655–
      Cooked rice coloured yellow with annatto, saffron, or turmeric.
   4. kedgeree 1662–
      An Indian dish of rice boiled with split pulse, onions, eggs, butter, and condiments; also, in European cookery, a dish made of cold fish, boiled…
   5. fried rice 1795–
      (Esp. in Asian cookery) rice which is first boiled or steamed then lightly fried in a pan, now typically with egg, meat, or vegetables, and served…
   6. pilaf 1814–
      = pilau, n. 1.
   7. congee 1819–
      In Chinese cookery: a dish made from boiled rice, of the consistency of thick soup or porridge, and often flavoured with, or accompanied by, added…
   8. risotto 1821–
      An Italian dish of rice cooked in stock with ingredients such as vegetables and meat or seafood. Also attributive, esp. in risotto rice.
   9. sticky rice 1842–
      A variety of rice, grown mainly in South, South East, and East Asia, which becomes glutinous when cooked.
   10. nasi 1853–
       In Malaysian and Indonesian cookery: cooked rice. Cf. nasi beryani, n., nasi goreng, n., nasi Padang, n.
   11. arroz 1858–
       In Spanish or Latin American contexts (chiefly in the names of dishes): rice. Also: a rice dish.
   12. curry rice 1859–
       A dish of rice and curry; (also) a dish of curried rice; (now chiefly) a Japanese dish of white rice with a curry sauce, which typically contains…
   13. jambalaya 1872–
       A dish composed of rice together with shrimps, chicken, turkey, etc. Also figurative.
   14. rijsttafel 1878–
       Esp. in Indonesian cookery: a meal consisting of a wide selection of dishes, including rice, from which diners help themselves.
   15. rice table 1881–
       = rijsttafel, n.
   16. poule au riz 1882–
       In French cookery: a dish of chicken cooked in stock with rice.
   17. ketupat 1886–
       A small rice cake boiled in a pouch of woven palm leaves, originating in Indonesia but also popular in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.
   18. kiribath 1886–
       A Sri Lankan dish made with rice cooked in coconut milk and formed into a block, typically sliced into diamond-shaped pieces and traditionally…
   19. paella?1892–
       A Spanish dish, consisting of saffron-flavoured rice, cooked and served in a large, shallow pan with chicken, seafood, vegetables, etc.
   20. sushi 1893–
       A Japanese dish consisting of small balls of cold boiled rice flavoured with vinegar and commonly garnished with slices of fish or cooked egg. Also…
   21. rice and peas 1898–
       A Caribbean dish traditionally consisting of rice and pigeon peas or kidney beans; cf. pea, n.² I.1b.
   22. omochi 1899–
       In Japanese cookery: = mochi, n.¹
   23. zarda 1899–
       A Persian and Indian sweet dish of rice cooked with saffron and often almonds and raisins or sultanas.
   24. strike me blind 1901–
       (See quots.).
   25. pelau 1907–
       In Caribbean cookery: a spicy dish of French Creole origin consisting of meat (typically chicken), rice, and pigeon peas.
   26. rice tafel 1910–
       = rijsttafel, n.
   27. nasi goreng 1917–
       In Malaysian and Indonesian cookery: a dish of savoury fried rice with a variety of ingredients including meat (occasionally also fish) and a sliced…
   28. donburi 1922–
       In Japanese cookery: a dish consisting of rice topped with other ingredients, typically including seafood, meat, or vegetables, served in a bowl…
   29. saffron rice 1926–
       Rice flavoured with saffron.
   30. perlow 1931–
       = pilau, n. 1.
   31. biryani 1932–
       A highly-spiced Indian dish made of meat or vegetables cooked with rice, saffron, and usually brown lentils.
   32. nasi lemak 1935–
       In Southeast Asian cookery: a Malay dish of rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandan leaf, served with various garnishes (such as…
   33. puto 1938–
       A steamed rice cake, typically eaten as a snack with butter and grated coconut or as an accompaniment to savoury dishes.
   34. onigiri 1943–
       A Japanese dish consisting of small balls or triangles of rice stuffed with a pickled or salted filling, and typically wrapped in dried seaweed.
   35. cook-up 1947–
       Caribbean. More fully cook-up rice. A Guyanese dish typically made with rice, peas or beans, meat, and coconut milk.
   36. idli 1958–
       A steamed cake of rice and black gram, popular in southern India.
   37. jollof rice 1959–
       (See quot. 1982).
   38. pongal 1961–
       A rice dish prepared at the Tamil harvest festival, esp. one in which the rice is cooked in milk and sweetened and flavoured with jaggery, nuts…
   39. nasi beryani 1963–
       In Malaysian and Indonesian cookery: a type of pilau.
   40. kimbap 1966–
       A Korean dish consisting of cooked rice and other ingredients wrapped in a sheet of seaweed and cut into bite-sized slices.
   41. nasi Padang 1971–
       In Malaysian and Indonesian cookery: a meal consisting of a main dish of rice served with various (esp. curried) side dishes of fish, meat…
   42. pilau rice 1971–
       Rice cooked in stock with spices added, eaten as an accompaniment to a meal; rice of the kind used in a pilau.
   43. bibimbap 1977–
       In Korean cookery: a dish consisting of rice topped with other ingredients, typically including sautéed vegetables, meat (esp. beef), and chilli…
   44. hand roll 1982–
       In Japanese cookery: a type of hand-rolled sushi, typically consisting of a cone of seaweed filled with rice, fish, vegetables, etc. Frequently…
   45. tteokbokki 1995–
       A Korean dish consisting of small, cylindrical rice cakes cooked in a spicy sauce made with gochujang, usually served as a snack (often as street…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɑːrdə/

####

##### 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 zardah.

## Frequency

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

zarda 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 zarda, n., 1890–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1890 | 0.0002
1900 | 0.0002
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0004
1930 | 0.0004
1940 | 0.0007
1950 | 0.0011
1960 | 0.0016
1970 | 0.0021
1980 | 0.0025
1990 | 0.0027
2000 | 0.0029
2010 | 0.0031

zarda, n. was first published in 1993; not fully revised.

zarda, n. was last modified in December 2024.