zorgite, n.

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

# zorgitenoun

## Earlier version

- zorgite in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zorgite mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zorgite. 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 zorgite?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.0005
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0005
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0005
1920 | 0.0004
1930 | 0.0004
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.00009
2010 | 0.00004

### How is the noun zorgite pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɔːɡʌɪt/

### Where does the noun zorgite come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zorgite is in the 1850s.

OED's only evidence for zorgite is from 1852, in a text by Henry James Brooke, crystallographer, and William H. Miller.

From a proper name, combined with an English element.

Etymons: proper name Zorge, ‑ite suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. zope, n. 1880–
2. zophoric, adj. 1728–
3. zophorus | zoophorus, n. 1563–
4. zopilote, n. 1787–
5. zopissa, n. 1601–
6. zoppa, adj. 1740–
7. Zoque, n. 1891–
8. Zoque–Mixe, adj. & n. 1893–
9. Zorb, n. 1996–
10. zorbing, n. 1996–
11. zorgite, n.1852–
12. zori, n.?1823–
13. zoril, n. 1774–
14. Zoroastrian, adj. & n. 1597–
15. Zoroastrianism, n. 1832–
16. Zoroastrianize, v. 1891–
17. Zoroastric, adj. a1739–
18. Zoroastrism, n. 1819–
19. zorrino, n. 1885–
20. zorro, n. 1838–
21. zos-grass, n. 1937–

## Etymology

### Summary

From a proper name, combined with an English element.
Etymons: proper name Zorge, ‑ite suffix1.
< Zorge, a village in the Hartz Mountains: see ‑ite suffix1.

## Meaning & use

Mineralogy.

1. 1852–
   A lead-grey selenide of lead and copper.
   1. 1852
      H. J. Brooke & W. H. Miller, Phillips's Elementary Introduction to Mineralogy (new edition) 153.
   minerals
   1. volcanite 1848–
      = selensulfur, n.
   2. zorgite 1852–
      A lead-grey selenide of lead and copper.
   3. tiemannite 1868–
      Native selenide of mercury, occurring in dark grey masses or granules with a metallic lustre.
   4. umangite 1891–
      A copper selenide, Cu3Se2, found as dark red, violet, or black tetragonal crystals.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɔːɡʌɪt/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zorgite 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zorgite, n., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.0005
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0005
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0005
1920 | 0.0004
1930 | 0.0004
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.00009
2010 | 0.00004

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

zorgite, n. was last modified in December 2024.