zaffre | zaffernoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zaffre mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zaffre. 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 zaffre?
| 1760 | 0.15 |
| 1770 | 0.14 |
| 1780 | 0.13 |
| 1790 | 0.12 |
| 1800 | 0.1 |
| 1810 | 0.094 |
| 1820 | 0.064 |
| 1830 | 0.05 |
| 1840 | 0.036 |
| 1850 | 0.03 |
| 1860 | 0.025 |
| 1870 | 0.019 |
| 1880 | 0.014 |
| 1890 | 0.0096 |
| 1900 | 0.0066 |
| 1910 | 0.0058 |
| 1920 | 0.0058 |
| 1930 | 0.0054 |
| 1940 | 0.004 |
| 1950 | 0.0037 |
| 1960 | 0.0034 |
| 1970 | 0.0033 |
| 1980 | 0.003 |
| 1990 | 0.002 |
| 2000 | 0.0014 |
| 2010 | 0.0009 |
How is the noun zaffre pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zaffre come from?
Earliest known use
mid 1600s
The earliest known use of the noun zaffre is in the mid 1600s.
OED's earliest evidence for zaffre is from 1662, in a translation by C. Merret.
zaffre is of multiple origins. Either a borrowing from Italian. Or a borrowing from French.
Etymons: Italian zaffera; French zafre.
Nearby entries
- 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–
- zaibatsu, n.1937–
- Zaidi, n.1709–
- zaikai, n.1968–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1662–An impure oxide of cobalt, obtained by roasting cobalt-ore, and used in the preparation of smalt and as a blue colouring-matter (cobalt blue) for pottery, glass, etc.
- 1662
Take Zaffer in gross pieces.
C. Merret, translation of A. Neri, Art of Glass xii - 1686
Smalt is made of Zaffer and Pot-ashes.
Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society) vol. 16 26 - 1693
Zaphara, or Saffera.
translation of S. Blankaart, Physical Dictionary (ed. 2) 113 - 1745
Zaffer, which is used by the Glass-makers and Enamellers, is made of Cobalt..calcined after the subliming the Flowers.
W. Watson in Philosophical Transactions 1744–5 (Royal Society) vol. 43 497 - 1804
Smalt, or vitreous oxide of cobalt, is saffer reduced to blue glass by the action of a violent fire.
translation of P. F. Tingry, Painter & Varnisher's Guide 301 - 1845
Zaffre, digested in aqua regia, and diluted with four times its weight of water, is sometimes employed; a green tint results.
E. A. Poe, Gold-bug in Tales 25 - 1912
The Egyptian porcelain..manufacturer, who used for the zaffre the Cyprus blue-stone.
Contemporary Review December 860
- powder blue1628–Powdered smalt.
- zaffre1662–An impure oxide of cobalt, obtained by roasting cobalt-ore, and used in the preparation of smalt and as a blue colouring-matter (cobalt blue) for…
- ultramarine1695–= A.3b.
- smalt1775–A deep blue colour like that of smalt.
- ultramarine blue (or colour). A blue colour like that of this pigment.
- royal blue1782–a. n. A deep vivid blue; b. adj. of this colour.
- smalt-blue1794–The rich blue colour of smalt. Cf. powder blue, n. A.2a.
- mazarine blue1803–A small Eurasian butterfly, Cyaniris semiargus (family Lycaenidae), now extinct in Britain, the male of which is a dull purplish blue.
- blue feldspar1804–= lazulite, n.; cf. blue spar, n.
- lazulite1807–Hydrous phosphate of aluminium and magnesium, found in blue monoclinic crystals; also, the colour of this mineral. ¶Sometimes used = lapis lazuli, n.
- cobalt1835–The blue pigment, also called cobalt-blue n. prepared from this mineral, largely used in staining glass. Also the deep blue colour of this.
- Vienna blue1835–In the names of pigments used in painting, decorative arts, etc. The blue pigment cobalt blue.
- Venetian bluec1840–A turquoise or cobalt blue.
- bleu-de-roi1848–The ultramarine blue of Sèvres porcelain; also called bleu de Sèvres. Also attributive.
- gentian blue1848–The vivid deep blue colour of certain gentian flowers (see gentian, n. A.1a). Cf. gentian, n. A.3.
- gentian1854–The vivid deep blue colour of certain gentian flowers. Cf. gentian blue, n.
- mazarine1857–A rich deep blue; mazarine blue. Now rare.
- night-blue1865–A very deep blue colour; the colour of the night sky.
- lapis lazuli1870–A complex silicate containing sulfur, of bright blue colour, used as a pigment (see ultramarine, adj. & n.). Also, the colour of this mineral.
- Reckitt's blue1877–(a) n. A type of laundry whitener, now chiefly used as a brightening agent (cf. blue, n. B.1c); (also) the clear cobalt blue colour of this…
- royal1885–Short for royal blue, n.
- Littler's blue1904–A rich blue colour applied to porcelain or stoneware.
- delphine1909–= delphinium, n. b.
- delphinium1923–A deep blue like that of the indigo-blue delphinium.
- Madonna blue1932–A shade of deep blue.
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
Also (1600s zaphara, saffera), 1800s saffre, saffer, ( zaffira, suphara).Frequency
zaffre typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zaffre 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 of zaffre | zaffer, n., 1760–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1760 | 0.15 |
| 1770 | 0.14 |
| 1780 | 0.13 |
| 1790 | 0.12 |
| 1800 | 0.1 |
| 1810 | 0.094 |
| 1820 | 0.064 |
| 1830 | 0.05 |
| 1840 | 0.036 |
| 1850 | 0.03 |
| 1860 | 0.025 |
| 1870 | 0.019 |
| 1880 | 0.014 |
| 1890 | 0.0096 |
| 1900 | 0.0066 |
| 1910 | 0.0058 |
| 1920 | 0.0058 |
| 1930 | 0.0054 |
| 1940 | 0.004 |
| 1950 | 0.0037 |
| 1960 | 0.0034 |
| 1970 | 0.0033 |
| 1980 | 0.003 |
| 1990 | 0.002 |
| 2000 | 0.0014 |
| 2010 | 0.0009 |