zorronoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zorro mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zorro. 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 zorro?
| 1830 | 0.0001 |
| 1840 | 0.0002 |
| 1850 | 0.0003 |
| 1860 | 0.0004 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0006 |
| 1890 | 0.0012 |
| 1900 | 0.0015 |
| 1910 | 0.0021 |
| 1920 | 0.0027 |
| 1930 | 0.0034 |
| 1940 | 0.0044 |
| 1950 | 0.0061 |
| 1960 | 0.0091 |
| 1970 | 0.012 |
| 1980 | 0.015 |
| 1990 | 0.017 |
| 2000 | 0.019 |
| 2010 | 0.021 |
How is the noun zorro pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zorro come from?
Earliest known use
1830s
The earliest known use of the noun zorro is in the 1830s.
OED's only evidence for zorro is from 1838, in a translation by W. P. Hunter.
zorro is a borrowing from Spanish.
Nearby entries
- zorbing, n.1996–
- zorgite, n.1852–
- zori, n.?1823–
- zoril, n.1774–
- Zoroastrian, adj. & n.1597–
- Zoroastrianism, n.1832–
- Zoroastrianize, v.1891–
- Zoroastric, adj.a1739–
- Zoroastrism, n.1819–
- zorrino, n.1885–
- zorro, n.1838–
- zos-grass, n.1937–
- zoster, n.1601–
- zostera, n.1819–
- zosterops, n.1867–
- Zouave, n.1848–
- zouk, n.1986–
- zounds, v.1680
- zounds, int.a1593–
- Zou-Zou, n.1860–
- zowie, int.1902–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1838–The South American fox-wolf.
- 1838
As to habits they vary considerably in my zorros.
W. P. Hunter, translation of F. de Azara, Natural History of Quadrupeds of Paraguay vol. I. 290
the world animals mammals group Unguiculata or clawed mammal family Canidae [nouns] genus Canis other types- bush dog1764–A small wild dog native to Central and South America, Speothos venaticus, having reddish brown fur, short stocky legs, a short bushy tail, and…
- red wolf1823–a. The maned wolf, Chrysocyon brachyurus (now rare); b. a small wolf with a cinnamon or tawny-coloured coat, often referred to Canis rufus but…
- Antarctic wolf1827–The extinct Falkland Islands wolf, Dusicyon australis.
- hill-fox1838–An Indian species of fox inhabiting the hills (Canis Himalaicus).
- kuri1838–A dog of Polynesian origin which was first introduced to New Zealand by the Māori and became extinct as a pure breed during the 19th century. Also…
- zorro1838–The South American fox-wolf.
- Falkland Island wolf1857–An extinct wolf-like dog, Dusicyon australis, which was endemic to the Falkland Islands (where it was the only native land mammal) but was…
- guara1884–A large-maned wild dog of South America, Canis jubatus.
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.
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
zorro typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.
zorro 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 zorro, n., 1830–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1830 | 0.0001 |
| 1840 | 0.0002 |
| 1850 | 0.0003 |
| 1860 | 0.0004 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0006 |
| 1890 | 0.0012 |
| 1900 | 0.0015 |
| 1910 | 0.0021 |
| 1920 | 0.0027 |
| 1930 | 0.0034 |
| 1940 | 0.0044 |
| 1950 | 0.0061 |
| 1960 | 0.0091 |
| 1970 | 0.012 |
| 1980 | 0.015 |
| 1990 | 0.017 |
| 2000 | 0.019 |
| 2010 | 0.021 |