zephyrlessadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zephyrless mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective zephyrless. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zephyrless?
| 1830 | 0.0001 |
| 1840 | 0.00009 |
| 1850 | 0.0001 |
| 1860 | 0.0001 |
| 1870 | 0.0001 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.0002 |
| 1900 | 0.0003 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0004 |
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0003 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |
Where does the adjective zephyrless come from?
Earliest known use
1820s
The earliest known use of the adjective zephyrless is in the 1820s.
OED's earliest evidence for zephyrless is from before 1821, in the writing of John Keats, poet.
Nearby entries
- zephyr, v.1829–
- zephyranth, n.1845–
- zephyranthes, n.1821–
- zephyrean, adj.1793–
- zephyret, n.1777–1881
- zephyr flower, n.?1829–
- zephyr-gale, n.1596–1901
- zephyrian, adj.1661–
- zephyrine, adj. & n.1819–
- zephyring, adj.1821–
- zephyrless, adj.a1821–
- zephyr-like, adv. & adj.1765–
- zephyr lily, n.?1877–
- zephyrous, adj.a1750–
- zephyry, adj.1791–
- Zepp, n.1914–
- Zepp, v.1914–
- Zeppelin, n.1896–
- zeppelin, v.1910–
- Zeppelined, adj.1915–
- Zeppelining, n.1915–
Meaning & use
- a1821–† a. (In quot. a1821, of wind) characterized by the absence of mild or gentle currents; (hence) strong, violent (obsolete); b. breezeless; calm, still.Stressed as ˈzephyrless.
- a1821
Whose winds, all zephyrless, hold scourging rods.
J. Keats, To Fanny in R. M. Milnes, Life, Letters & Literary Remains Keats (1848) vol. II. 35 - 1905
As mild as a zephyrless summer morn.
Proceedings 36th Ann. Meeting Southeastern Iowa Horticultural Society 276 - 2000
The zephyrless clear blue sky.
Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 17 January 5
- calmc1440–Free from agitation or disturbance; quiet, still, tranquil, serene; without wind, not stormy. spec. Absolutely without wind.
- dead calm1589–a. n. A state in which there is no wind or in which the sea is profoundly calm; completely still conditions; b. adj. (of the weather, a period of…
- windless1605–Free from wind; not exposed to or stirred by the wind; in or upon which no wind blows.
- breathless?1614–Not exposed to or disturbed by the wind; very still (now usually oppressively so); unstirred by the slightest breeze.
- airless1727–Breezeless, still.
- breezelessa1763–Without a breeze; still, calm.
- unbreathing1814–Not breathing or respiring; esp. holding the breath; breathless.
- zephyrlessa1821–†a. (In quot. 1821, of wind) characterized by the absence of mild or gentle currents; (hence) strong, violent (obsolete); b. breezeless; calm, still.
- dead1861–Of water, air, etc.: without motion or current; still, standing; stale, stagnant. See also dead air, n. 1, dead water, n.
Frequency
zephyrless typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zephyrless 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 zephyrless, adj., 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 | 0.00009 |
| 1850 | 0.0001 |
| 1860 | 0.0001 |
| 1870 | 0.0001 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.0002 |
| 1900 | 0.0003 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0004 |
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0003 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |