zymurgynoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zymurgy mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zymurgy. 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 zymurgy?
| 1920 | 0.0008 |
| 1930 | 0.001 |
| 1940 | 0.0011 |
| 1950 | 0.0012 |
| 1960 | 0.0015 |
| 1970 | 0.0016 |
| 1980 | 0.0018 |
| 1990 | 0.0019 |
| 2000 | 0.0019 |
| 2010 | 0.002 |
How is the noun zymurgy pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zymurgy come from?
Earliest known use
1860s
The earliest known use of the noun zymurgy is in the 1860s.
OED's only evidence for zymurgy is from 1868, in a dictionary by Henry Watts, chemist.
zymurgy is a borrowing from Greek.
Etymons: Greek ζύμη, ‑ουργία.
Nearby entries
- zymosan, n.1943–
- zymoscope, n.1868–
- zymosimeter, n.1704–
- zymosis, n.1842–
- zymotechnic, adj.1896–
- zymotechnical, adj.1900–
- zymotechnologist, n.1896–
- zymotechny, n.1860–
- zymotic, adj. & n.1842–
- zymotoxic, adj.1902–
- zymurgy, n.1868–
- Zyrian, n. & adj.1886–
- zythum, n.1608–
- Zyzzyva, n.1922–
- 0800 number, n.1988–
- 0898 number, n.1988–
- 101, adj.1929–
- 1471, n.1994–
- 17-hydroxycorticosteroid, n.1951–
- 1984, n.1951–
- 1984-ish, adj.1959–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1868–The practice or art of fermentation, as in winemaking, brewing, distilling, etc.
- 1868H. Watts, Dictionary of Chemistry vol. V. 1086.
- fervencec1420–1634Boiling or glowing heat. Also, Violent ebullition, fermentation.
- spurgingc1440–1720The action on the part of ale, wine, etc., of throwing off impurities by fermenting; fermentation. Obsolete.
- working1548–The process of liquor undergoing fermentation; an instance of this. Cf. work, v. I.6.
- bustle1674–1836Brewing. Movement produced in the process of fermentation. Also figurative. Obsolete.
- zymurgy1868–The practice or art of fermentation, as in winemaking, brewing, distilling, etc.
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
Frequency
zymurgy typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zymurgy 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 zymurgy, n., 1920–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 0.0008 |
| 1930 | 0.001 |
| 1940 | 0.0011 |
| 1950 | 0.0012 |
| 1960 | 0.0015 |
| 1970 | 0.0016 |
| 1980 | 0.0018 |
| 1990 | 0.0019 |
| 2000 | 0.0019 |
| 2010 | 0.002 |