zirconianoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zirconia mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zirconia. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zirconia?
| 1800 | 0.16 |
| 1810 | 0.16 |
| 1820 | 0.15 |
| 1830 | 0.13 |
| 1840 | 0.11 |
| 1850 | 0.1 |
| 1860 | 0.081 |
| 1870 | 0.071 |
| 1880 | 0.068 |
| 1890 | 0.072 |
| 1900 | 0.096 |
| 1910 | 0.099 |
| 1920 | 0.1 |
| 1930 | 0.11 |
| 1940 | 0.12 |
| 1950 | 0.11 |
| 1960 | 0.14 |
| 1970 | 0.22 |
| 1980 | 0.26 |
| 1990 | 0.3 |
| 2000 | 0.34 |
| 2010 | 0.37 |
How is the noun zirconia pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zirconia come from?
Earliest known use
late 1700s
The earliest known use of the noun zirconia is in the late 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zirconia is from 1794, in the writing of J. G. Schmeisser.
zirconia is a borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: Latin circonia.
Nearby entries
- zir, adj.1993–
- ziraleet, n.1794–
- ziram, n.1950–
- zirbal, adj.?a1425–
- zirbus, n.a1400–
- zircaloy, n.1953–
- zircon, n.1794–
- zirconate, n.1820–
- zircon blue, n. & adj.1928–
- zircon earth, n.1794–
- zirconia, n.1794–
- zirconian, adj.1802–
- zirconic, adj.1804–
- zirconite, n.1806–
- zirconitic, adj.1883–
- zirconium, n.1808–
- zircon-like, adj.1857–
- zircono-, comb. form
- zirconolite, n.1957–
- zircon-syenite, n.1813–
- zirconyl, n.1887–
Etymology
Summary
Notes
- 1790
This earth, which Mr. K[laproth] terms terra circonia, appeared to differ in some respects from each of the five primitive earths hitherto admitted.
Analytical Review vol. 7 469
Meaning & use
- 1794–A white solid, zirconium dioxide, which is made by heating zirconium compounds in contact with air and is used in ceramic glazes and heat-resistant coatings.
- 1794
According to Klaproth, it yielded by analysis 68 grains of circonia, 31 grains of siliceous earths, one grain of iron.
J. G. Schmeisser, System of Mineralogy vol. I. 57 - 1800
When exposed to a violent heat, zirconia [French la zircone] becomes fused, and assumes a somewhat greyish colour.
translation of E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange, Manual of Course of Chemistry vol. I. 160 - 1812
Zircona is soluble in the mineral acids.
H. Davy, Elements of Chemical Philosophy 361 - 1872
The oxyhydrogen light..attains a still higher intensity, if a piece of magnesium or zirconia be substituted for the cylinder of lime.
J. Lassell & C. Lassell, translation of H. Schellen, Spectrum Analysis 19 - 1938
Zirconia..melts above 2000°C., and can be used for crucibles and furnace linings, but is too expensive for common use.
R. Hum, Chemistry for Engineering Students xxv. 691 - 1999
When zirconia is vacuum brazed, it undergoes significant (and unsightly) discoloration due to the diffusion of oxygen from the zirconia.
Global Ceramic Review Autumn 28/2
the world matter chemistry elements and compounds metals specific elements zirconium [nouns] compounds- zircon earth1794–Zirconia (zirconium dioxide).
- zirconia1794–A white solid, zirconium dioxide, which is made by heating zirconium compounds in contact with air and is used in ceramic glazes and…
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. 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.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- 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.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Forms
Variant forms
- 1700s–1800scirconia
- 1800szircona
- 1800s–zirconia
Frequency
zirconia typically occurs about 0.3 times per million words in modern written English.
zirconia is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zirconia, 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 | 0.16 |
| 1810 | 0.16 |
| 1820 | 0.15 |
| 1830 | 0.13 |
| 1840 | 0.11 |
| 1850 | 0.1 |
| 1860 | 0.081 |
| 1870 | 0.071 |
| 1880 | 0.068 |
| 1890 | 0.072 |
| 1900 | 0.096 |
| 1910 | 0.099 |
| 1920 | 0.1 |
| 1930 | 0.11 |
| 1940 | 0.12 |
| 1950 | 0.11 |
| 1960 | 0.14 |
| 1970 | 0.22 |
| 1980 | 0.26 |
| 1990 | 0.3 |
| 2000 | 0.34 |
| 2010 | 0.37 |
Frequency of zirconia, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.071 |
| 2018 | 0.068 |
| 2019 | 0.069 |
| 2020 | 0.068 |
| 2021 | 0.079 |
| 2022 | 0.083 |
| 2023 | 0.089 |
| 2024 | 0.095 |
Compounds & derived words
- zirconian, adj. 1802–Of, relating to, or containing zircon or…
- cubic zirconia, n. 1942–The cubic crystalline form of zirconia (zirconium…
- 1849–In general use as a modifier.
- 1849
The zirconia-salts [German Zirkonerdesalzen] are not precipitated by zinc.
H. Watts, translation of L. Gmelin, Hand-book of Chemistry vol. III. xiv. 343 - 1869
One night, however, at a soirée at King's College, the zirconia light was exhibited, burning with great steadiness and brilliancy.
Engineer 4 June 399/3 - 1992
Blades of alumina and zirconia ceramics..are more expensive but stay sharper than steel-bladed products.
New Scientist 12 September 22/3