zestiness, n.

zestiness
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zestiness_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2018

# zestinessnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zestiness mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zestiness. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zestiness?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1970 | 0.0007
1980 | 0.0008
1990 | 0.0008
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0009

### Where does the noun zestiness come from?

Earliest known use

1910s

The earliest known use of the noun zestiness is in the 1910s.

OED's earliest evidence for zestiness is from 1912, in Country Life in America.

### Nearby entries

1. zero waste, adj. & n. 1974–
2. zero-zero, adj. & n. 1930–
3. zerumbet, n. 1640–
4. zest, n.¹ 1674–
5. zest, n.² 1706
6. zest, v. 1702–
7. zest, int. 1705–22
8. zester, n. 1963–
9. zestful, adj. 1797–
10. zestfully, adv. 1843–
11. zestiness, n.1912–
12. zesty, adj. 1826–
13. zeta, n.¹?a1425–
14. zeta, n.² 1706–1860
15. zetacism, n. 1860–
16. zeta function, n. 1879–
17. zeta-ic, adj. 1840–1927
18. zeta potential, n. 1927–
19. zetetic, adj. & n. 1645–
20. zetetical, adj. & n. 1646–
21. zetetically, adv. 1665–

## Meaning & use

1. 1912–
   The quality or state of being zesty (in various senses).
   Stressed as ˈzestiness.
   1. 1912

      > Old family recipes of generations ago—famous for their fine flavor and zestiness.

      Country Life in America November 70/1 (advertisement)
   2. 1977

      > A romantic comedy with the zestiness and boisterous humor of folk take.

      New York Times 9 May 27/2
   3. 2016

      > This smooth and nutty white has..a really appealing zestiness to its fresh citrus acidity.

      Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 23 April (Sat. Magazine) 7
   1. delicacy a1393–1873
      The quality of being delicious or very appetizing; deliciousness. Obsolete.
   2. savouriness a1398–
      The quality of being savoury or appetizing; savoury taste or flavour. Also figurative.
   3. deliciousness a1450–
      The quality of being delicious or extremely pleasing, esp. to the senses (particularly the taste or smell); delectableness; delightfulness; (now…
   4. delicateness?1529–
      The quality of being delicate (in various senses).
   5. daintiness 1552–
      †a. The quality of being attractive, delightful, or refined. Obsolete in a general sense. b. With reference to food: the quality of being…
   6. toothsomeness 1612–
   7. piquantness 1648–
      = piquancy, n.
   8. palatableness 1721–
      = palatability, n.
   9. tastefulness 1727–
      The quality or state of being tasteful (in various senses).
   10. fumet 1735–
       The scent or smell of game when high; game flavour. Also, a concentrated fish stock used for flavouring.
   11. lightness 1799–
       Delicacy, subtlety, or freshness of flavour, aroma, etc.
   12. palatability 1850–
       The quality of being palatable; pleasant or agreeable flavour. Also figurative.
   13. zestiness 1912–
       The quality or state of being zesty (in various senses).
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. savour?c1225–
      Pleasing, enjoyable, or attractive quality; merit, value. Now frequently in negative constructions.
   2. sauce 1561–
      figurative. Something which adds to, modifies, or has a significant effect on an experience, situation, action, etc.; an affecting circumstance or…
   3. haut-goût 1650–1710
      figurative. ‘Flavour’, ‘spice’.
   4. rocambole 1702
      figurative. Something which provides piquancy or zest. Obsolete. rare.
   5. zest 1709–
      figurative. Something which imparts excitement, energy, or interest; a stimulating or invigorating quality which adds to the enjoyment or…
   6. sauce piquante 1759–
      A sauce with sharp, tangy, or spicy flavour; (figurative and in figurative contexts) something regarded as having an arresting, exciting, or…
   7. Tabasco 1894–
      More fully Tabasco (pepper) sauce. figurative and in figurative contexts. A person or thing likened to Tabasco sauce, esp. in being caustic or…
   8. zestiness 1977–
      The quality or state of being zesty (in various senses).
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zestiness 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 zestiness, n., 1970–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1970 | 0.0007
1980 | 0.0008
1990 | 0.0008
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0009

Originally published as part of the entry for zesty, adj.

zestiness, n. was first published in 2018.