zadnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zad mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zad. 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 zad?
| 1750 | 0.041 |
| 1760 | 0.043 |
| 1770 | 0.04 |
| 1780 | 0.037 |
| 1790 | 0.029 |
| 1800 | 0.028 |
| 1810 | 0.024 |
| 1820 | 0.019 |
| 1830 | 0.013 |
| 1840 | 0.01 |
| 1850 | 0.0087 |
| 1860 | 0.0081 |
| 1870 | 0.0082 |
| 1880 | 0.0091 |
| 1890 | 0.0091 |
| 1900 | 0.009 |
| 1910 | 0.0087 |
| 1920 | 0.0088 |
| 1930 | 0.0089 |
| 1940 | 0.0089 |
| 1950 | 0.0091 |
| 1960 | 0.0092 |
| 1970 | 0.0099 |
| 1980 | 0.011 |
| 1990 | 0.011 |
| 2000 | 0.011 |
| 2010 | 0.011 |
How is the noun zad pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zad come from?
Earliest known use
mid 1600s
The earliest known use of the noun zad is in the mid 1600s.
OED's earliest evidence for zad is from 1669, in the writing of William Holder, Church of England clergyman and natural philosopher.
zad is a variant or alteration of another lexical item.
Etymons: zed n.
Nearby entries
- 'Z, adj.
- za, n.1968–
- zaatar, n.1917–
- zabaglione, n.1899–
- zabernism, n.1916–21
- zabernize, v.1914
- zabra, n.1523–
- zabuton, n.1879–
- zac, n.1898–
- 'zackly | 'zactly, adv.1886–
- zad, n.1669–
- Zadokite, n. & adj.1910–
- zadruga, n.1887–
- zaffre | zaffer, n.1662–
- zaftig, adj.1921–
- zafu, n.1965–
- zag, n., adv., & v.1793–
- zagaie | zagaye, n.1590–1698
- Zaghlulist, n. & adj.1921–
- zaguan, n.1851–
- Zahal, n.1959–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1669–Name of the letter Z; hence (slang) applied to a thing or person of crooked form. (Cf. zard at izzard n. Forms.)
- 1669
We may imagine it to have been anciently pronounced, as it is now by the Italians, Ds or Ts; and so to be called Zad from the Hebrew Tsadi: but yet..we..do as often call it Yzard.
W. Holder, Elements of Speech 140 - 1725
A meer Zad, used of any bandy-legg'd, crouch-back'd ..Person.
New Canting Dictionary (at cited word) - 1728
Zad, crooked.
Street-robberies, Consider'd 35 - 1778
W is defined from its form only, not from its use; and Z zad, or izard is an appellation equally useless.
N. B. Halhed, Grammar of Bengal Language 6 - 1810
And how she sooth'd me, when with Study sad I labour'd on to reach the final Zad.
G. Crabbe, Borough xviii. 238 - 1877
A labouring man..said..at a night school, ‘I can't made a Zad.’
Rep. & Trans. Devonshire Association vol. 9 141
- zedc1175–(A name for) the letter Z, z, the last letter of the alphabet in English and other modern languages (see Z, n.).
- zee1580–(A name for) the letter Z, z, the last letter of the alphabet in English and other modern languages (see Z, n.).
- izzard1597–Old name for the letter Z.
- zad1669–Name of the letter Z; hence (slang) applied to a thing or person of crooked form. (Cf. zard izzard, n. Forms.)
the world health ill health atypical structure, development, or growth [nouns] person, animal, or plant- misshapec1400–1675A misshapen body or person. Obsolete.
- monstrosity1555–An animal or plant, or (occasionally) an organ or part, that is atypically developed or is affected by a deformity or malformation. Also: an…
- counterfeit1557–78A person whose body differs from the typical form. Cf. A.II.8.
- hodmandod1664–figurative. Applied to a person.
- zad1725Name of the letter Z; hence (slang) applied to a thing or person of crooked form. (Cf. zard izzard, n. Forms.)
- freak1810–A person, plant, or animal with an unusual physical abnormality. Now regarded as offensive when applied to people. Cf. freak of nature.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. 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.
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
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
zad typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zad is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zad, n., 1750–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1750 | 0.041 |
| 1760 | 0.043 |
| 1770 | 0.04 |
| 1780 | 0.037 |
| 1790 | 0.029 |
| 1800 | 0.028 |
| 1810 | 0.024 |
| 1820 | 0.019 |
| 1830 | 0.013 |
| 1840 | 0.01 |
| 1850 | 0.0087 |
| 1860 | 0.0081 |
| 1870 | 0.0082 |
| 1880 | 0.0091 |
| 1890 | 0.0091 |
| 1900 | 0.009 |
| 1910 | 0.0087 |
| 1920 | 0.0088 |
| 1930 | 0.0089 |
| 1940 | 0.0089 |
| 1950 | 0.0091 |
| 1960 | 0.0092 |
| 1970 | 0.0099 |
| 1980 | 0.011 |
| 1990 | 0.011 |
| 2000 | 0.011 |
| 2010 | 0.011 |