zestfulnessnoun
Factsheet
Where does the noun zestfulness come from?
Earliest known use
1850s
The earliest known use of the noun zestfulness is in the 1850s.
OED's earliest evidence for zestfulness is from 1850, in Westminster Review.
How common is the noun zestfulness?
| 1860 | 0.0001 |
| 1870 | 0.0001 |
| 1880 | 0.0003 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0013 |
| 1910 | 0.0017 |
| 1920 | 0.0023 |
| 1930 | 0.0028 |
| 1940 | 0.0032 |
| 1950 | 0.0033 |
| 1960 | 0.0032 |
| 1970 | 0.0028 |
| 1980 | 0.0026 |
| 1990 | 0.0023 |
| 2000 | 0.002 |
| 2010 | 0.0018 |
Nearby entries
- zero waste, adj. & n.1974–
- zero-zero, adj. & n.1930–
- zerumbet, n.1640–
- zest, n.¹1674–
- zest, n.²1706
- zest, v.1702–
- zest, int.1705–22
- zester, n.1963–
- zestful, adj.1797–
- zestfully, adv.1843–
- zestfulness, n.1850–
- zestiness, n.1912–
- zesty, adj.1826–
- zeta, n.¹?a1425–
- zeta, n.²1706–1860
- zetacism, n.1860–
- zeta function, n.1879–
- zeta-ic, adj.1840–1927
- zeta potential, n.1927–
- zetetic, adj. & n.1645–
- zetetical, adj. & n.1646–
Meaning & use
- 1850–See zestful adj.Stressed as ˈzestfulness.
- 1850
What zestfulness in that expression.
Westminster Review April 328 - 1914
She realized..a zestfulness she had never known in her former conquests.
K. E. Oliver, Claw xviii. 156 - 2005
You can just tell, from the sheer zestfulness of the painting, that he's on his knees learning from them.
Times 29 November ii. 23/3
the world action or operation manner of action vigour or energy [nouns] quality or state of being vigorous- wightness1377–The quality of being ‘wight’; valour, courage, bravery; strength, might, force, vigour, energy; activity, agility, alacrity.
- vigorousnessc1440–The quality or state of being vigorous; vigorous condition; vigour.
- zestfulness1850–
- gutsiness1893–a. Greediness, gluttony (1825 in Jamieson; 1898 in Eng. Dial. Dict.); b. energy, spirit; courage.
- thrustfulness1907–
- zippiness1907–The quality of being zippy (in various senses); speed, liveliness, zest, etc.
- vibrance1934–= vibrancy, n.
Frequency
zestfulness typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zestfulness 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 zestfulness, n., 1860–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 0.0001 |
| 1870 | 0.0001 |
| 1880 | 0.0003 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0013 |
| 1910 | 0.0017 |
| 1920 | 0.0023 |
| 1930 | 0.0028 |
| 1940 | 0.0032 |
| 1950 | 0.0033 |
| 1960 | 0.0032 |
| 1970 | 0.0028 |
| 1980 | 0.0026 |
| 1990 | 0.0023 |
| 2000 | 0.002 |
| 2010 | 0.0018 |