zinfandelnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zinfandel mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zinfandel. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 zinfandel?
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0004 |
| 1900 | 0.0005 |
| 1910 | 0.0008 |
| 1920 | 0.0013 |
| 1930 | 0.0013 |
| 1940 | 0.0019 |
| 1950 | 0.0036 |
| 1960 | 0.0072 |
| 1970 | 0.012 |
| 1980 | 0.018 |
| 1990 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 0.024 |
| 2010 | 0.028 |
How is the noun zinfandel pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zinfandel come from?
Earliest known use
1880s
The earliest known use of the noun zinfandel is in the 1880s.
OED's earliest evidence for zinfandel is from 1880, in Californian.
Nearby entries
- zincy, adj.1757–
- zinc yellow, n.1847–
- zindabad, int. & n.1930–
- zindan, n.1844–
- Zindikite, n.1694–
- Zindiq, n.1667–
- zine, n.1946–
- zineb, n.1950–
- zines, int.?1701–10
- zinester, n.1986–
- zinfandel, n.1880–
- zing, v.1899–
- zing, int. & n.1875–
- zingana, n.¹1883
- zingana, n.²1911–
- Zingani, n.1581–1879
- Zingara, n.1756–
- Zingaro, n.1600–
- zingel, n.1803–
- zingelin perch, n.1803
- zinger, n.1906–
Meaning & use
- a.1896–A red or white dry wine of California.
- 1896
He drinks cheap Zinfandel, which must kill him eventually.
Pall Mall Magazine March 393 - 1897
Four-year-old zinfandel.
Outing November 144/2
- zinfandel1896–A red or white dry wine of California.
- Gamay Beaujolais1951–A red wine made from an early-ripening clone of Pinot Noir grown in California; (also) the grape itself, formerly thought to be a distinct variety.
- Napa1977–Napa valley wine.
- Meritage1989–Any of various wines of high quality produced exclusively in the United States from blends of Bordeaux grape varieties (see also quot. 1994). A proprietary name in the United States.
- b.1880–The grape from which this wine is made. In full, Zinfandel grape.
- 1880
The favorite wine grapes are the Zinfandel, Riesling and Chasselas.
Californian vol. II. 219/1 - 1977
‘What kind of grapes do you grow for the market?’ ‘Zinfandels mostly. We have some Thompsons—’ ‘Ah, well the color of zinfandels is excellent, but we want a sweeter grape.’
H. Fast, Immigrants iv. 254 - 1980
We were..in California... My companion..grows Chardonnay, Cabernet and Zinfandel grapes.
Times 23 September 10/1
- frontignaca1642–The grape from which this is made.
- frontignan1756–77= frontignac, n.
- Pineau1763–= Pinot, n.
- Nebbiolo1788–A variety of black grape grown in Piedmont in north-western Italy. Also: red wine produced from this grape.
- Riesling1788–The name of a variety of vine and grape widely grown in Germany, Austria, Alsace, and elsewhere; the dry white wine produced from this grape.
- aligoté1828–A variety of grape grown in Burgundy; a white wine made from this grape.
- Barbera1841–Any of various chiefly dry red wines made from a variety of red grape native to Piedmont, Italy, and now cultivated throughout Italy and elsewhere…
- Sauvignon1846–A white grape of France; the white wine made from this grape. Also attributive or as adj.
- Pinot1854–Any of several varieties of grapevine, associated particularly with the Burgundy region of France; the grape of these vines. Also: wine made from…
- garnacha1860–A (usually sweet) red or rosé wine made from a variety of grape grown in Spain; (also) this variety of grape.
- Sémillon1875–A white grape of France; also a similar one grown abroad; the white wine made from this grape.
- zinfandel1880–The grape from which this wine is made. In full, Zinfandel grape.
- Bual1882–A variety of winemaking grape; the madeira made from this.
- Viognier1908–A variety of white wine grape, grown traditionally in the northern Rhône region of France, but since the 1980s also elsewhere, noted for…
- vernaccia1929–A wine (usually white) produced in the San Gimignano area of Italy and in Sardinia; also, the grape from which it is made.
- Verdicchio1940–A white grape grown in the Marche region of Italy; also, the dry white wine made from this grape.
- Cinsault1945–A variety of red wine grape grown in southern France, northern Africa, and South Africa; the simple, fruity rosé or red wine made from this grape.
- Gamza1959–A dark red grape of Bulgaria, or the red wine made from it. Also attributive.
- Prosecco1966–Originally: †any of various wines grown in the region of Istria (obsolete). Now: a white wine, slightly or (usually) fully sparkling and ranging from… A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
- Albariño1972–A light, aromatic white wine produced originally and principally in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. Also: the grape from which this wine…
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.
Frequency
zinfandel typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.
zinfandel 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 zinfandel, n., 1880–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0004 |
| 1900 | 0.0005 |
| 1910 | 0.0008 |
| 1920 | 0.0013 |
| 1930 | 0.0013 |
| 1940 | 0.0019 |
| 1950 | 0.0036 |
| 1960 | 0.0072 |
| 1970 | 0.012 |
| 1980 | 0.018 |
| 1990 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 0.024 |
| 2010 | 0.028 |
Frequency of zinfandel, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.063 |
| 2018 | 0.057 |
| 2019 | 0.051 |
| 2020 | 0.042 |
| 2021 | 0.037 |
| 2022 | 0.031 |
| 2023 | 0.029 |
| 2024 | 0.029 |