zamarra, n.

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

# zamarranoun

## Earlier version

- zamarra in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zamarra mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.012
1850 | 0.01
1860 | 0.0092
1870 | 0.0086
1880 | 0.0054
1890 | 0.0039
1900 | 0.0034
1910 | 0.003
1920 | 0.0031
1930 | 0.0027
1940 | 0.002
1950 | 0.0015
1960 | 0.001
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0008
2000 | 0.0007
2010 | 0.0008

### How is the noun zamarra pronounced?

#### British English

/θaˈmarra/

### Where does the noun zamarra come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zamarra is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zamarra is from 1841, in the writing of George Borrow, writer and traveller.

zamarra is a borrowing from Spanish.

### Nearby entries

1. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
2. zaitech, n. 1986–
3. zakat, n. 1668–
4. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–
5. zakuska, n. 1885–
6. zalambdodont, adj. 1885–
7. zalcitabine, n. 1991–
8. zamacueca, n. 1855–
9. Zamak, n. 1926–
10. zamang, n. 1819–
11. zamarra, n.1841–
12. zama zama, n. 2006–
13. Zamazim, n. a1400–
14. Zambian, adj. & n. 1959–
15. Zambianization, n. 1964–
16. Zambianize, v. 1964–
17. zambo, n. 1819–
18. Zamboni, n. 1965–
19. zambra, n. 1672–
20. zambuk, n. 1906–
21. zamburak, n. 1825–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Spanish.
Spanish.

## Meaning & use

1. 1841–
   A sheepskin jacket worn by Spanish people.
   1. 1841

      > Another Gypsy..dressed in a zamarra of sheep-skin.

      G. Borrow, Zincali vol. I. ii. i. 231
   2. 1842

      > I observed a tall, gentlemanly-looking man, dressed in a semara.

      E. D. H. E. Napier, Excursions Shores of Mediterranean vol. II. vi. 81
   3. 1843

      > The gipsy Antonio..dressed in his zamarra and high-peaked Andalusian hat.

      G. Borrow, Bible in Spain vol. I. ix. 152
   4. 1894

      > Swarthy Galicians, in the black zamarra.

      M. Pemberton, Sea Wolves xxii
   costume
   1. cork-jacket 1762–
      A jacket made partly of cork, or lined with cork, to support a person in the water.
   2. jean jacket 1775–
      A jacket made from heavy twilled cotton cloth; (now) spec. a short casual jacket made of denim.
   3. zamarra 1841–
      A sheepskin jacket worn by Spanish people.
   4. bush jacket 1842–
      A lightweight jacket, typically with a belt and four patch pockets with flaps, usually made of cotton and originally intended to be worn in warm…
   5. Cossack 1884–1919
      Canadian. A sealskin or deerskin jacket. Obsolete.
   6. worsted 1905–
      A garment made of worsted cloth; a worsted jacket, suit, etc. (see sense B).
   7. leathers 1962–
      plural. Articles for wear made of leather, e.g. shoes, slippers, leggings, breeches. Hence colloquial ‘leathers’ as a name for one who wears leather…
   8. puffa 1975–
      A proprietary name for: a quilted jacket or parka filled with a soft, lightweight insulating material such as down. Frequently attributive, esp. in p…
   9. puffy 1998–
      Originally and chiefly North American. A quilted jacket or parka filled with a soft, lightweight insulating material such as down. Cf. earlier puffa…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/θaˈmarra/

####

##### 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 semara.

## Frequency

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

zamarra 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 zamarra, n., 1840–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1840 | 0.012
1850 | 0.01
1860 | 0.0092
1870 | 0.0086
1880 | 0.0054
1890 | 0.0039
1900 | 0.0034
1910 | 0.003
1920 | 0.0031
1930 | 0.0027
1940 | 0.002
1950 | 0.0015
1960 | 0.001
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0008
2000 | 0.0007
2010 | 0.0008

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

zamarra, n. was last modified in December 2024.