Zenonian, adj.²

zenonian
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zenonian_adj2%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2018

# Zenonianadjective2

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective Zenonian mean?

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

### How common is the adjective Zenonian?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1750 | 0.0002
1760 | 0.0003
1770 | 0.0002
1780 | 0.0002
1790 | 0.0002
1800 | 0.0002
1810 | 0.0003
1820 | 0.0004
1830 | 0.0003
1840 | 0.0005
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0005
1870 | 0.0006
1880 | 0.0006
1890 | 0.0006
1900 | 0.0007
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0008
1940 | 0.0008
1950 | 0.0009
1960 | 0.0011
1970 | 0.001
1980 | 0.0011
1990 | 0.001
2000 | 0.001
2010 | 0.001

### How is the adjective Zenonian pronounced?

#### British English

/zᵻˈnəʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

#### U.S. English

/zəˈnoʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

### Where does the adjective Zenonian come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective Zenonian is in the mid 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zenonian is from 1756, in a translation by G. Harris.

Zenonian is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin Zenonianus.

### Nearby entries

1. Zen master, n. 1907–
2. Zenned-out, adj. 1968–
3. Zennist, adj. & n. 1904–
4. zeno-, comb. form
5. zenocentric, adj. 1911–
6. Zenocratically, adv. 1588
7. zenographic, adj. 1853–
8. zenographical, adj. 1853–
9. zenography, n. 1890–
10. Zenonian, adj.¹ & n.¹ 1654–
11. Zenonian, adj.²1756–
12. Zenonian, adj.³ & n.² 1837–
13. Zenonic, adj.¹ 1779–
14. Zenonic, adj.² 1827–
15. Zenonism, n.¹ 1789–
16. Zenonism, n.² 1935–
17. zenzi-, comb. form
18. zenzic, n. & adj. 1557–71
19. zenzicube, adj. & n. 1557–1690
20. zenzicubic, adj. 1557–71
21. zenzicubicube, n. a1690

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin Zenonianus.
< post-classical Latin Zenonianus (6th cent. in the passage translated in quot. 1756) < Zenon (also Zeno; < Byzantine Greek Ζήνων), the name of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno + classical Latin ‑iānus ‑ian suffix…
< post-classical Latin Zenonianus (6th cent. in the passage translated in quot. 1756) < Zenon (also Zeno; < Byzantine Greek Ζήνων), the name of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno + classical Latin ‑iānus ‑ian suffix.

### Notes

Compare Middle French, French Zénonien (1558 or earlier).

## Meaning & use

1. 1756–
   Of or relating to the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (reigned 474–91), or the period of his rule.
   1. 1756

      > The Zenonian law [Latin lex Zenoniana] was enacted.

      G. Harris, translation of Justinian, Institutions iii. xxv. 81
   2. 1851

      > The Zenonian law of plantations.

      Freeman's Journal (Dublin) 22 September
   3. 1922

      > The great apostolic see of Rome, maintaining its majestic unity unbroken, with the brief exceptions of the Zenonian and Photian schisms, for a thousand years.

      Encyclopaedia of Religion & Ethics vol. XII. 413/1
   4. 1972

      > He accepted Guyer's Zenonian dating for Meryemlik.

      Anatolian Studies vol. 22 210
   5. 2014

      > Harmenopoulos included Julian's ‘laws’ in his compilation Hexabiblos, side by side with the Zenonian laws.

      B. S. Hakim, Mediterranean Urbanism 131

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zᵻˈnəʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

### U.S. English

/zəˈnoʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

####

##### 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.

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

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

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

### Frequency of Zenonian, adj.², 1750–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1750 | 0.0002
1760 | 0.0003
1770 | 0.0002
1780 | 0.0002
1790 | 0.0002
1800 | 0.0002
1810 | 0.0003
1820 | 0.0004
1830 | 0.0003
1840 | 0.0005
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0005
1870 | 0.0006
1880 | 0.0006
1890 | 0.0006
1900 | 0.0007
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0008
1940 | 0.0008
1950 | 0.0009
1960 | 0.0011
1970 | 0.001
1980 | 0.0011
1990 | 0.001
2000 | 0.001
2010 | 0.001

Originally published as part of the entry for Zenonian, adj.¹ & n.¹

Zenonian, adj.² was first published in June 2018.

Zenonian, adj.² was last modified in July 2023.