zanella, n.

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

# zanellanoun

## Earlier version

- zanella in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zanella mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.0007
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0006
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0004
1920 | 0.0003
1930 | 0.0003
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zanella pronounced?

#### British English

/zəˈnɛlə/

### Where does the noun zanella come from?

Earliest known use

1870s

The earliest known use of the noun zanella is in the 1870s.

OED's earliest evidence for zanella is from 1876, in a diary entry by Francis Kilvert, diarist.

Perhaps from a proper name.

Etymons: proper name Zanelli.

### Nearby entries

1. zamindarship, n. 1698–1902
2. zamioid, adj. 1860–
3. zamorin, n. 1582–
4. zampino, n. 1881–
5. zampogna, n. 1740–
6. zampone, n. 1860–
7. zamzawed, adj. 1743–
8. Zamzummim, n. 1530–
9. Zande, n. 1873–
10. zander, n. 1854–
11. zanella, n.1876–
12. zanily, adv. 1936–
13. zaniness, n. 1933–
14. Zante, n. 1615–
15. Zantedeschia, n. 1836–
16. ZANU, n. 1963–
17. zany, n. & adj. 1582–
18. zany, v. 1602–1894
19. zanyish, adj. 1843–
20. zanyism, n. 1823–
21. zanyship, n. 1766–1839

## Etymology

### Summary

Perhaps from a proper name.
Etymon: proper name Zanelli.
? < name of Antonio Zanelli (author of Le lane italiane, 1878).

## Meaning & use

1. 1876–
   (See quot. 1882.)
   1. 1876

      > I found she had taken my umbrella and left me a much better one, a fine silk umbrella in place of my zenilla.

      F. Kilvert, Diary 28 April (1940) vol. III. 272
   2. 1880

      > Since 1848 a material called zanella cloth, which has a cotton warp, has been largely made.

      Great Industrial Great Britain vol. III. 213
   3. 1882

      > Zanella, a mixed twilled fabric introduced of late years, and used for covering umbrellas.

      S. W. Beck, Draper's Dictionary
   textiles
   1. Venetian 1710–
      A closely-woven cloth having a fine twilled surface, used as a suiting or dress material.
   2. Venetian cloth c1790–
      = Venetian, n. A.4.
   3. broken twill 1845–
      A type of twill fabric in which the direction of the diagonal weave alternates back and forth, producing a zigzag pattern; frequently (and in…
   4. gambroon 1858–
      A cotton and worsted fabric used typically for men's jackets and trousers; (usually in plural) a piece of cloth, or garment, made from this…
   5. diagonal 1861–
      = diagonal cloth at sense A.3: (a) a soft material used for embroidery; (b) a black coating for men's wear.
   6. zanella 1876–
      (See quot. 1882.)
   7. cavalry twill 1942–
      (See quot. 1957).
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zanella 1876–
      (See quot. 1882.)
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəˈnɛlə/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also 1800s zenilla.

## Frequency

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

zanella 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 zanella, 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 | 0.0007
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0006
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0004
1920 | 0.0003
1930 | 0.0003
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

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

zanella, n. was last modified in December 2024.