zemninoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zemni mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zemni. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zemni?
| 1770 | 0.0059 |
| 1780 | 0.0047 |
| 1790 | 0.0041 |
| 1800 | 0.0038 |
| 1810 | 0.0033 |
| 1820 | 0.0025 |
| 1830 | 0.0009 |
| 1840 | 0.0008 |
| 1850 | 0.0008 |
| 1860 | 0.0007 |
| 1870 | 0.0004 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.00008 |
| 1900 | 0.00008 |
| 1910 | 0.00001 |
| 1920 | 0 |
| 1930 | 0.000009 |
| 1940 | 0.00009 |
| 1950 | 0.0001 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.0001 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.00009 |
How is the noun zemni pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zemni come from?
Earliest known use
late 1700s
The earliest known use of the noun zemni is in the late 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zemni is from around 1775–6, in a translation by William Kenrick, writer and translator, et al.
zemni is a borrowing from French.
Etymons: French zemni, ziemni.
Nearby entries
- zelkova, n.1836–
- zelotypia, n.1566–
- zelotyping, adj.a1660
- zelotypist, n.?1632
- zelotypy, n.1623–1794
- Zemblan, n. & adj.1674–1805
- Zemblian, n. & adj.1674–1796
- zemi, n.1555–
- zemiistic, adj.1907–
- zemirah, n.1767–
- zemni, n.1775–
- Zemsky Sobor, n.1877–
- zemstvo, n.1865–
- zemstvoist, n.1904–
- Zen, n. & adj.1727–
- Zen, v.1968–
- zenana, n. & adj.1761–
- zenana cloth, n.1885–
- Zen Buddhist, adj. & n.1917–
- Zend, n. & adj.1700–
- zendaletto, n.1789–
Etymology
Summary
Notes
Meaning & use
- 1775–Any of several blind mole-rats of the genus Spalax occurring in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. Also zemni-rat.
- 1775–6
There is another animal in Poland and Russia, which is called ziemni, or zemni [French un autre animal appelé ziemni ou zemni]; which is of the same race as the zisel, but larger, stronger, and more mischievous.
W. Kenrick et al., translation of Comte de Buffon, Natural History of Animals, Vegetables, & Minerals vol. IV. 89 - 1839
Some..are devoid of the auricle, as the mole, the zemni-rat, the mole-rat.
Todd's Cyclopædia of Anatomy & Physiology vol. II. 571/2 - 1940
Frederic Cuvier..referred to two kinds of Mole-Rats: the Zemmi (Spalax) and the Zocor (Siphneus or Myospalax), and joined the two in a single genus: Spalax.
Bulletin Fan Memorial Inst. Biology Zool. Series September–October 168 - 1973
Coleridge is reading Cuvier's Lectures of Comparative Anatomy tr William Ross... The clue lies in the reference to the Zemni and the eel in the last paragraph.
K. Coburn in S. T. Coleridge, Notebooks vol. III. (Notes) §4356
the world animals mammals group Unguiculata or clawed mammal order Rodentia or rodent superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) [nouns] family Muridae genus Spalax (mole-rat)- zemni1775–Any of several blind mole-rats of the genus Spalax occurring in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. Also zemni-rat.
- mole-rat1781–Any of various short-legged herbivorous rodents somewhat resembling moles in appearance and having long protruding incisors used for burrowing; spec.…
- rat-mole1827–75= mole-rat, n.
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
Forms
Variant forms
α.
- 1700sziemni
β.
- 1700s–zemni
- 1800s–zemmi (irregular)
Frequency
zemni typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zemni 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 of zemni, n., 1770–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1770 | 0.0059 |
| 1780 | 0.0047 |
| 1790 | 0.0041 |
| 1800 | 0.0038 |
| 1810 | 0.0033 |
| 1820 | 0.0025 |
| 1830 | 0.0009 |
| 1840 | 0.0008 |
| 1850 | 0.0008 |
| 1860 | 0.0007 |
| 1870 | 0.0004 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.00008 |
| 1900 | 0.00008 |
| 1910 | 0.00001 |
| 1920 | 0 |
| 1930 | 0.000009 |
| 1940 | 0.00009 |
| 1950 | 0.0001 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.0001 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.00009 |