Zenverb
Factsheet
What does the verb Zen mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the verb Zen. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the verb Zen?
| 2017 | 0.015 |
| 2018 | 0.017 |
| 2019 | 0.018 |
| 2020 | 0.023 |
| 2021 | 0.024 |
| 2022 | 0.025 |
| 2023 | 0.025 |
| 2024 | 0.027 |
How is the verb Zen pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the verb Zen come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the verb Zen is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zen is from 1968, in the writing of I. Horovitz.
It is also recorded as a noun from the early 1700s.
Zen is formed within English, by conversion.
Etymons: Zen n.
Nearby entries
- Zemblan, n. & adj.1674–1805
- Zemblian, n. & adj.1674–1796
- zemi, n.1555–
- zemiistic, adj.1907–
- zemirah, n.1767–
- zemni, n.1775–
- Zemsky Sobor, n.1877–
- zemstvo, n.1865–
- zemstvoist, n.1904–
- Zen, n. & adj.1727–
- Zen, v.1968–
- zenana, n. & adj.1761–
- zenana cloth, n.1885–
- Zen Buddhist, adj. & n.1917–
- Zend, n. & adj.1700–
- zendaletto, n.1789–
- Zend-Avesta, n.1630–
- Zend-Avestaic, adj.1816
- Zend-Avestan, adj. & n.1871–
- Zend-Avestic, adj.1864–
- Zendic, n. & adj.1771–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1968–intransitive. to Zen out: to enter a state of meditative calmness or serenity of mind, emotions, etc.; to relax. Cf. Zen n. A.2.
- 1968
‘If you can't beat 'em, Zen out,’ that's what I always say.
I. Horovitz, It's called Sugar Plum in First Season 104 - 1990
Internally wired but externally calm, I Zenned out as the world around me fell away.
N. Collins, Hard to Get (1992) 11 - 2014
Men Zenning out and limbering up, hatha style.
Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 2 February (Sunday Style Magazine) 27
- saughtelc1400To become calm or quiet.
- breathe1485–intransitive. To rest and recover after vigorous physical activity; to take a breather. Also figurative: to pause in order to reflect, relax, or…
- pacify1509–intransitive. To become peaceful, calm down; to moderate. rare.
- settle1591–intransitive. Of strong emotion: to subside, calm down. Of the brain, mind, etc.: to become calm or composed.
- compose1663intransitive (for reflexive). Obsolete.
- to breathe freely (also easy, easily) and variants: to feel at ease in a particular situation or environment. Also: to relax; to recover one's…
- tranquillize1748–intransitive. To become tranquil or quiet.
- cool1836–figurative. intransitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). With out. To calm down, relax; to take it easy.
- simmer down1842–Originally U.S. intransitive. To calm down from an angry or agitated state.
- calm1877–intransitive. Of the sea or wind: To become calm. Obsolete except with down. Also figurative.
- relax1907–intransitive. To become less tense, anxious, or stressed; to calm down. Frequently in imperative.
- to cool it1952–slang (originally U.S.). to cool it: to relax, calm down; (also) to curtail or put an end to an activity (frequently with on, with). Frequently in…
- to Zen out1968–intransitive. to Zen out: to enter a state of meditative calmness or serenity of mind, emotions, etc.; to relax. Cf. Zen, n. A.2.
- mellow1974–intransitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). With out. To become relaxed, esp. under the influence of a drug. Also (occasionally) transitive (reflexive…
- to take a chill pill1981–A (notional) pill used to calm or relax a person. Frequently in to take a chill pill: to calm down, to relax, to ‘chill out’ (usually in imperative)…
- chillax1994–intransitive. To calm down and relax; to take it easy, to chill (see chill, v. additions 4). Often in imperative: ‘relax’, ‘calm down’.
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
Frequency
Zen typically occurs about 0.03 times per million words in modern written English.
Zen 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 Zen, v., 1960–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.032 |
| 1970 | 0.033 |
| 1980 | 0.033 |
| 1990 | 0.033 |
| 2000 | 0.034 |
| 2010 | 0.034 |
Frequency of Zen, v., 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 | 0.015 |
| 2018 | 0.017 |
| 2019 | 0.018 |
| 2020 | 0.023 |
| 2021 | 0.024 |
| 2022 | 0.025 |
| 2023 | 0.025 |
| 2024 | 0.027 |
Compounds & derived words
- Zenned-out, adj. 1968–Of a person: relaxed, serene, laid-back…