zopissa, n.

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

# zopissanoun

## Earlier version

- zopissa in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zopissa mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zopissa, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

zopissa has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

pharmacology (early 1600s) metal industry (1860s)

#### 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 zopissa?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1820 | 0.0018
1830 | 0.0029
1840 | 0.0024
1850 | 0.0021
1860 | 0.002
1870 | 0.0021
1880 | 0.0012
1890 | 0.0012
1900 | 0.0002
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.00007
2010 | 0.00007

### How is the noun zopissa pronounced?

#### British English

/zəʊˈpɪsə/

### Where does the noun zopissa come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun zopissa is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for zopissa is from 1601, in a translation by Philemon Holland, translator.

zopissa is a borrowing from Latin.

### Nearby entries

1. zootypic, adj. 1853–
2. zoowoman, n. 1930–
3. zooxanthella, n. 1882–
4. zooxanthellate, adj. & n. 1981–
5. zooxanthin, n. 1868–
6. zoozygosphere, n. 1880–
7. zope, n. 1880–
8. zophoric, adj. 1728–
9. zophorus | zoophorus, n. 1563–
10. zopilote, n. 1787–
11. zopissa, n.1601–
12. zoppa, adj. 1740–
13. Zoque, n. 1891–
14. Zoque–Mixe, adj. & n. 1893–
15. Zorb, n. 1996–
16. zorbing, n. 1996–
17. zorgite, n. 1852–
18. zori, n.?1823–
19. zoril, n. 1774–
20. Zoroastrian, adj. & n. 1597–
21. Zoroastrianism, n. 1832–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Latin, < Greek ζώπισσα, < πίσσα pitch.

## Meaning & use

1. 1. a.
      1601–1861
      † An old medicinal application made from wax and pitch scraped from the sides of ships. Obsolete.
      1. 1601

         > Zopissa, is that Pitch, which..is scraped from ships, and is confected of wax well soked in salt water of the sea.

         P. Holland, translation of Pliny, Historie of World vol. II. xxiv. vii. 184
      2. 1712

         > This Zopissa is a Composition of black Pitch, Rosin, Suet and Tar melted together.

         J. Browne, translation of P. Pomet et al. Compleat History of Druggs vol. I. 212
      3. 1861

         > To experimentalise on a portion of that stone with a substance called ‘zopissa’—phraseologically borrowed from Dioscorides..pitch-plaster.

         Illustrated London News 2 February 108/1
      pharmacology
      1. zopissa 1601–1861
         An old medicinal application made from wax and pitch scraped from the sides of ships. Obsolete.
      2. cereole 1657
         A cerate of wax and oil.
      3. savin cerate 1798–
         A medicinal preparation of savin in wax, applied to the skin to produce discharge from blisters and counterirritation.
      4. parafango 1969–
         A medicinal bath made with volcanic mud and paraffin wax.
      View in Historical Thesaurus
   2. b.
      1862–
      A patent composition used as a hardening or protecting coat for metal, etc.
      1. 1862

         > The zopissa composition, for preserving iron and wooden ships against rust and decay, invented by N. C. Szerelmy.

         Catalogue International Exhib., Britain vol. II. No. 2653
      2. 1862

         > Arabian zopissa waterproof and paper boards processes.

         Catalogue International Exhib., Britain vol. II. No. 5089
      metal industry
      1. gold Old English–
         The metal gold (or an imitation of this) used for the ornamentation of textiles and fabrics; gold thread (see gold thread, n. 1). Also: textiles…
      2. wash 1695–
         A solution applied to metals for producing a counterfeit appearance of gold or silver.
      3. tinning 1762–
         concrete. A tin coating or lining.
      4. rolled gold 1822–
         a. n. Gold in the form of a thin coating applied to the surface of a baser metal by rolling; b. adj. coated with this type of gold.
      5. zopissa 1862–
         A patent composition used as a hardening or protecting coat for metal, etc.
      6. nickel plate 1873–
         A thin layer of nickel applied to the surface of other metals.
      7. coke finish 1898–
         A coating given to a sheet of coke (see coke, n.¹ c).
      8. satin chrome 1932–
         Chrome-plated metal with a lustrous but non-reflective finish; (also) this surface finish; frequently attributive.
      View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəʊˈpɪsə/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zopissa 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 zopissa, n., 1820–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1820 | 0.0018
1830 | 0.0029
1840 | 0.0024
1850 | 0.0021
1860 | 0.002
1870 | 0.0021
1880 | 0.0012
1890 | 0.0012
1900 | 0.0002
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.00007
2010 | 0.00007

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

zopissa, n. was last modified in June 2025.