Zarp, n.

zarp
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zarp_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# Zarpnoun

## Earlier version

- Zarp in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zarp mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zarp. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is used in South African English.

#### 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 Zarp?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1890 | 0.014
1900 | 0.012
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.0099
1930 | 0.0099
1940 | 0.0046
1950 | 0.0043
1960 | 0.0039
1970 | 0.003
1980 | 0.0027
1990 | 0.0025
2000 | 0.0019
2010 | 0.0016

### How is the noun Zarp pronounced?

#### British English

/zɑːp/
zarp

#### U.S. English

/zɑrp/
zarp

#### South African English

/zɑːp/

### Where does the noun Zarp come from?

Earliest known use

1890s

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

OED's only evidence for Zarp is from 1895, in Standard & Diggers News (Johannesburg).

Zarp is a borrowing from Dutch.

Etymons: Dutch Zuid Afrikaansch Republikeinsch Politie.

### Nearby entries

1. Zarathustrism, n. 1871–
2. zaratite, n. 1858–
3. zarcole, n. 1585–
4. zarda, n. 1899–
5. zardozi, n. 1871–
6. zarf | zurf, n. 1836–
7. zari, n. 1969–
8. zariba, n. 1849–
9. zariba, v. 1885–
10. zarnich, n. 1612–
11. Zarp, n.1895–
12. zarzuela, n. 1888–
13. zat, n. 1934–
14. zatch, n. 1950–
15. zawiya, n. 1836–
16. zawn, n. 1865–
17. zayat, n. 1823–
18. zayde, n. 1946–
19. zazen, n. 1727–
20. zazzy, adj. 1961–
21. Z band, n. 1950–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Dutch.
Etymon: Dutch Zuid Afrikaansch Republikeinsch Politie.
< the initials of Dutch Zuid Afrikaansch Republikeinsch Politie South African Republican Police.

## Meaning & use

South African. Now Historical.

1. 1895–
   An appellation for a member of the Boer police force in the pre-1902 South African Republic; a Boer constable.
   1. 1895

      > The Zarp produces his latest capture. Jan, an Ethiop, is a vagrant who resisted Zarpine authority, and even attempted to test the Zarpine probity by the bribe of a six-pence.

      Standard & Diggers News (Johannesburg) 23 November 21
   police South African English historical
   1. quarterman 1573–1676
      In France, esp. Paris: a municipal officer responsible for policing a district of a city. Cf. quarter, n. III.13b. Obsolete. rare.
   2. lascarine 1598–1825
      An East Indian soldier; also, a member of the police force.
   3. peon 1609–1840
      In parts of South and Southeast Asia. A foot soldier or low-ranking police officer. Obsolete.
   4. sbirro 1670–
      An Italian police officer.
   5. exempt 1678–1840
      In the French army. A French police officer. Obsolete exc. Historical.
   6. kavass 1819–
      An armed constable or police officer, an armed servant or courier (in Turkey).
   7. ghaffir 1831–
      In Egypt: a policeman; a guardian, watchman.
   8. Texas Ranger 1846–
      A member of the state constabulary of Texas (formerly, of certain locally mustered regiments in the federal service during the Mexican War).
   9. carabiniere 1847–
      A member of an Italian Army Corps which serves as a police force.
   10. zaptieh 1869–
       A Turkish policeman.
   11. Zarp 1895–
       An appellation for a member of the Boer police force in the pre-1902 South African Republic; a Boer constable.
   12. flic 1899–
       A French policeman.
   13. kiap 1923–
       In New Guinea, a European patrol officer or police officer.
   14. Schupo 1923–
       In Germany, a police officer; also collective, the police force.
   15. guard 1925–
       Irish English. Usually with capital initial. A member of the Irish police force; a Garda (Garda, n. b). Often in plural, as the Guards: the police.
   16. provincial 1936–
       A member of a provincial police force in Canada. Now rare.
   17. Garda 1943–
       A member of the Garda Síochána; an Irish police officer. Used in plural for the police generally.
   18. Volkspolizist 1951–
       A member of the national police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany); an East German police officer. See Volkspolizei, n.
   19. Vopo 1954–
       (A member of) the Volkspolizei (see Volkspolizei, n.).
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zɑːp/
zarp

### U.S. English

/zɑrp/
zarp

### South African English

/zɑːp/

####

##### 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.

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xgogga
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
- ɬlekgotla

Afrikaans uses a sound similar to /t/ and /k/ but made in the same part of the mouth as /j/, which may appear in some speakers’ pronunciations in English, but the OED reflects their common anglicized forms of /tʃ/ or /k/. Similarly, African click sounds are shown as their common anglicized forms, highly variable but often as /g/, /k/ and/or /h/.

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used as in British and US English.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- edress
- ætrap
- ʌstrut
- ɒlot, cloth
- ɔːthought, north, force
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- ɑːbath, palm, start
- ɜːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- aɪpride
- eɪface
- ɔɪvoice
- əletter
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)

The symbols used for several of the South African vowels are less precise than their use in other varieties. For example, in some words the /ɪ/ vowel will sound closer to /ə/ whilst still being in a stressed syllable. Some vowels reflected as /ɒ/ may sound similar to /ɔː/ but significantly shorter. Some vowels transcribed as /e/ may sound longer, or some transcribed as /eɪ/ sound more steady (a sound like /eː/). In some words, /ʌ/ and /æ/ may also sound very similar to each other.

##### 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

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

Zarp 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 Zarp, 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 | 0.014
1900 | 0.012
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.0099
1930 | 0.0099
1940 | 0.0046
1950 | 0.0043
1960 | 0.0039
1970 | 0.003
1980 | 0.0027
1990 | 0.0025
2000 | 0.0019
2010 | 0.0016

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. Zarpine, adj. 1895–
   Of or belonging to the ‘Zarps’.

Zarp, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

Zarp, n. was last modified in July 2023.