zuznoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zuz mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zuz. 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 zuz?
| 1800 | 0.0044 |
| 1810 | 0.0038 |
| 1820 | 0.0033 |
| 1830 | 0.0029 |
| 1840 | 0.0024 |
| 1850 | 0.0028 |
| 1860 | 0.0076 |
| 1870 | 0.023 |
| 1880 | 0.026 |
| 1890 | 0.03 |
| 1900 | 0.032 |
| 1910 | 0.038 |
| 1920 | 0.04 |
| 1930 | 0.038 |
| 1940 | 0.027 |
| 1950 | 0.027 |
| 1960 | 0.028 |
| 1970 | 0.029 |
| 1980 | 0.027 |
| 1990 | 0.028 |
| 2000 | 0.028 |
| 2010 | 0.028 |
How is the noun zuz pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zuz come from?
Earliest known use
late 1600s
The earliest known use of the noun zuz is in the late 1600s.
OED's earliest evidence for zuz is from 1688, in the writing of Randle Holme, herald painter.
zuz is a borrowing from Hebrew.
Etymons: Hebrew zūz.
Nearby entries
- zuppa, n.1961–
- Zurich, n.1870–
- Zuricher, n.1673–
- zurla, n.1940–
- zurlite, n.1826–
- zurna, n.1870–
- zurr, n.1803–
- zussmanite, n.1965–
- zut, int.1915–
- zuur-veldt, n.1785–
- zuz, n.1688–
- zwanziger, n.1828–
- Zweig, n.1973–
- zwieback, n.1894–
- zwieselite, n.1861–
- Zwinglian, n. & adj.1532–
- Zwinglianism, n.1581–
- Zwinglianist, n.1673–1759
- zwischenzug, n.1941–
- zwitterion, n.1906–
- zwitterionic, adj.1946–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1688–A silver coin anciently in use among the Jews, the fourth part of a silver shekel.
- 1688
A Zuz or Zuzim shekil.
R. Holme, Academy of Armory iii. 25/2 - 1858
Zuzah, an ancient Hebrew silver coin, worth about 6d.
P. L. Simmonds, Dictionary of Trade Products - 1877
A blow on the ear was variously set at the fine of a shilling or a pound: a blow on the one cheek at two hundred zuzees.
J. C. Geikie, Life & Words of Christ vol. II. xxxvi. 71
society trade and finance money medium of exchange or currency coins collective coins of other specific regions and countries [nouns] other specific Hebrew or Israeli coins- ounceOld English–1382= shekel, n. 1. Obsolete. rare.
- siclec1230–1649A shekel.
- scriplea1382A unit of ancient Hebrew weight, equal to one twentieth of a shekel (approx. 0.568 grams); = gerah, n.
- mnamc1400= mina, n. 1.
- silverling1526–A shekel.
- gerah1534–A Hebrew coin and weight, the twentieth part of a shekel.
- shekel1560–(a) An ancient unit of weight of the Babylonians, and hence of the Phœnicians, Hebrews, and others, equal to one-sixtieth of a mina (see mina, n.…
- cichar1597–A talent.
- maneh1611–An ancient Semitic unit of weight: = mina, n.
- zuz1688–A silver coin anciently in use among the Jews, the fourth part of a silver shekel.
- mina1737A monetary unit formerly used in Greece and the Middle East, equivalent to the weight of one mina in silver. (Rendered ‘pound’ in some English…
- mna1737= mina, n.
Pronunciation
British 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.
Forms
Variant forms
Plural zuzim; also zuzees.Frequency
zuz typically occurs about 0.03 times per million words in modern written English.
zuz is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zuz, n., 1800–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1800 | 0.0044 |
| 1810 | 0.0038 |
| 1820 | 0.0033 |
| 1830 | 0.0029 |
| 1840 | 0.0024 |
| 1850 | 0.0028 |
| 1860 | 0.0076 |
| 1870 | 0.023 |
| 1880 | 0.026 |
| 1890 | 0.03 |
| 1900 | 0.032 |
| 1910 | 0.038 |
| 1920 | 0.04 |
| 1930 | 0.038 |
| 1940 | 0.027 |
| 1950 | 0.027 |
| 1960 | 0.028 |
| 1970 | 0.029 |
| 1980 | 0.027 |
| 1990 | 0.028 |
| 2000 | 0.028 |
| 2010 | 0.028 |