Zen masternoun
Factsheet
What does the noun Zen master mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zen master. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun Zen master?
| 1910 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 0.032 |
| 1930 | 0.045 |
| 1940 | 0.068 |
| 1950 | 0.1 |
| 1960 | 0.13 |
| 1970 | 0.17 |
| 1980 | 0.19 |
| 1990 | 0.22 |
| 2000 | 0.22 |
| 2010 | 0.23 |
Where does the noun Zen master come from?
Earliest known use
1900s
The earliest known use of the noun Zen master is in the 1900s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zen master is from 1907, in Journal Pali Text Soc. 1906–7.
Nearby entries
- zenith point, n.1585–
- zenith sector, n.1775–
- zenith sweep, n.1790–
- zenith telescope, n.1803–
- zenith tube, n.1825–
- zenithward, n., adv., & adj.1655–
- zenithwards, adv.1826–
- Zenker, n.¹1872–
- Zenker, n.²1894–
- Zen-like, adj.a1908–
- Zen master, n.1907–
- Zenned-out, adj.1968–
- Zennist, adj. & n.1904–
- zeno-, comb. form
- zenocentric, adj.1911–
- Zenocratically, adv.1588
- zenographic, adj.1853–
- zenographical, adj.1853–
- zenography, n.1890–
- Zenonian, adj.¹ & n.¹1654–
- Zenonian, adj.²1756–
Meaning & use
- 1907–An experienced or advanced practitioner of Zen Buddhism, esp. one who teaches or mentors others.
- 1907
Each Zen master must be sanctioned and authorized by his predecessor.
Journal Pali Text Soc. 1906–7 13 - 1950
As the Zen Masters like paradoxically to put it, ‘Buddha never taught the saving truth.’
A. Huxley, Themes & Variations 98 - 2015
She was sitting with her legs folded up like a Zen master.
J. Leck, After Dark 18
- Zennist1904–a. adj. Of or relating to Zen Buddhism or its teachings; b. n. a person who practises Zen Buddhism; a Zen Buddhist.
- Zen master1907–An experienced or advanced practitioner of Zen Buddhism, esp. one who teaches or mentors others.
- Zen Buddhist1917–a. adj.Of or relating to Zen Buddhism or its teachings; b. n. a person who practises Zen Buddhism.
Frequency
Zen master typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.
Zen master is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of Zen master, n., 1910–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 0.032 |
| 1930 | 0.045 |
| 1940 | 0.068 |
| 1950 | 0.1 |
| 1960 | 0.13 |
| 1970 | 0.17 |
| 1980 | 0.19 |
| 1990 | 0.22 |
| 2000 | 0.22 |
| 2010 | 0.23 |
Frequency of Zen master, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.014 |
| 2018 | 0.011 |
| 2019 | 0.011 |
| 2020 | 0.015 |
| 2021 | 0.013 |
| 2022 | 0.011 |
| 2023 | 0.013 |
| 2024 | 0.013 |