zuccanoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zucca mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zucca. 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 zucca?
| 1820 | 0.0046 |
| 1830 | 0.0043 |
| 1840 | 0.0039 |
| 1850 | 0.004 |
| 1860 | 0.003 |
| 1870 | 0.0033 |
| 1880 | 0.003 |
| 1890 | 0.0036 |
| 1900 | 0.0037 |
| 1910 | 0.0039 |
| 1920 | 0.0039 |
| 1930 | 0.004 |
| 1940 | 0.0039 |
| 1950 | 0.004 |
| 1960 | 0.0042 |
| 1970 | 0.005 |
| 1980 | 0.0056 |
| 1990 | 0.0059 |
| 2000 | 0.0065 |
| 2010 | 0.0073 |
How is the noun zucca pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zucca come from?
Earliest known use
1810s
The earliest known use of the noun zucca is in the 1810s.
OED's earliest evidence for zucca is from 1818, in a letter by Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet.
zucca is a borrowing from Italian.
Nearby entries
- zounds, v.1680
- zounds, int.a1593–
- Zou-Zou, n.1860–
- zowie, int.1902–
- zoysia, n.1965–
- ZPG, n.1970–
- Zr, n.1814–
- zubr, n.1763–
- zubrowka, n.1916–
- zucarine, adj.a1425
- zucca, n.1818–
- zucchetto, n.1853–
- zucchini, n.1916–
- zuche, n.1358–1676
- Zuckerkandl, n.1910–
- zufolo, n.1724–
- zug, n.1899–
- zugtrompete, n.1978–
- Zugunruhe, n.1950–
- Zugzwang, n.1904–
- zule | zulis, n.1780–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1818–A gourd, esp. a pumpkin.Shelley's (plural) form is erroneous.
- 1818
Vast heaps of many coloured zucki or pumkins..piled as winter food for the hogs.
P. B. Shelley, Letter 6 November (1964) vol. II. 45 - 1946
Perhaps..it was Mary who placed a zucca in a vase on the window~sill.
E. Blunden, Shelley xxii. 272
the world food and drink food fruit and vegetables vegetables fruits as vegetables [nouns] pumpkins or squashes- turquin1600A dark-green pumpkin.
- squanter-squash1634–1705A squash.
- pumpkin1647–Originally: any of various kinds of edible gourd. Now: the fruit of any of several plants of the genus Cucurbita (family Cucurbitaceae), which…
- cushaw1698–Any of several varieties of winter crookneck squash, esp. of the species Cucurbita argyrosperma, typically having green and white striped skin. Also…
- simlin1775–U.S. regional. Any of several squashes; now spec. the pattypan squash. Cf. simnel, n. 3.
- summer squash1801–Any variety of squash (genus Cucurbita, esp. Cucurbita pepo) having fruits which are harvested while immature and thin-skinned; (also) the fruit…
- zucca1818–A gourd, esp. a pumpkin.
- summer crookneck1832–Any variety of summer squash having a fruit with a curved neck and yellow or orange skin (see crook-neck, n.); (also) the fruit itself.
- custard marrow1853–a. A variety of summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) having a flattened fruit with a scalloped rim, thin yellow, green, or white skin, and white flesh…
- pattypan1855–Chiefly North American. In full pattypan squash. A flattened variety of the summer squash, Cucurbita pepo, with a scalloped rim and creamy white…
- trombone1946–A green or yellow pear-shaped pumpkin belonging to the Australian variety of this name.
the world plants particular plants cultivated or valued plants particular food plant or plant product particular vegetables [nouns] fruits as vegetables pumpkin- peponOld English–The fruit of a kind of gourd, originally probably a kind of melon, Cucumis melo, in later use perhaps the pumpkin, a variety of Cucurbita pepo…
- pompion1526–= pumpkin, n. 1.
- pompillion1598= pompion, n. A.1a.
- turquin1600A dark-green pumpkin.
- pumpkin1647–Originally: any of various kinds of edible gourd. Now: the fruit of any of several plants of the genus Cucurbita (family Cucurbitaceae), which…
- calabash1658–A name given to various gourds or pumpkins, the shell of which is used for holding liquids, etc.
- potiron1658–A kind of pumpkin, esp. one with a flattened shape and orange skin.
- winter squash1771–Any variety of squash (genus Cucurbita, esp. C. maxima) having fruits which are harvested when mature and thick-skinned, and may be stored for use…
- pumpkin gourd1799–†a. = pumpkin, n. 1b (obsolete); b. = pumpkin, n. 1a.
- zucca1818–A gourd, esp. a pumpkin.
- kabocha1884–More fully kabocha squash. A variety of winter squash, Cucurbita maxima, having dark green or orange skin with pale stripes or blotches and sweet…
- sugared pumpkin1884–= sugar-pumpkin, n.
- sugar-pumpkin1905–(See quot.).
- Ceylon pumpkin1913–A large pumpkin found originally in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).
- trombone1946–A green or yellow pear-shaped pumpkin belonging to the Australian variety of this name.
- Queensland blue1956–An Australian cultivar of the winter squash, Cucurbita maxima, whose skin is bluish-grey to bright green.
Pronunciation
British English
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
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
Plural zucche.Frequency
zucca typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zucca 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 of zucca, n., 1820–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1820 | 0.0046 |
| 1830 | 0.0043 |
| 1840 | 0.0039 |
| 1850 | 0.004 |
| 1860 | 0.003 |
| 1870 | 0.0033 |
| 1880 | 0.003 |
| 1890 | 0.0036 |
| 1900 | 0.0037 |
| 1910 | 0.0039 |
| 1920 | 0.0039 |
| 1930 | 0.004 |
| 1940 | 0.0039 |
| 1950 | 0.004 |
| 1960 | 0.0042 |
| 1970 | 0.005 |
| 1980 | 0.0056 |
| 1990 | 0.0059 |
| 2000 | 0.0065 |
| 2010 | 0.0073 |