zocalonoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zocalo mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zocalo. 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 zocalo?
| 1880 | 0.0056 |
| 1890 | 0.0047 |
| 1900 | 0.0044 |
| 1910 | 0.0047 |
| 1920 | 0.0045 |
| 1930 | 0.0061 |
| 1940 | 0.008 |
| 1950 | 0.015 |
| 1960 | 0.029 |
| 1970 | 0.034 |
| 1980 | 0.039 |
| 1990 | 0.044 |
| 2000 | 0.05 |
| 2010 | 0.059 |
How is the noun zocalo pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zocalo come from?
Earliest known use
1880s
The earliest known use of the noun zocalo is in the 1880s.
OED's earliest evidence for zocalo is from 1884, in the writing of J. W. Steele.
zocalo is a borrowing from Spanish.
Nearby entries
- zoanthid, n.1870–
- zoanthidan, adj.1888–
- zoanthodeme, n.1877–
- zoanthoid, adj.1854–
- zoanthropic, adj.1891–
- zoanthropy, n.1856–
- zoanthus, n.1841–
- zoarial, adj.1896–
- zoarium, n.1880–
- zob, n.1911–
- zocalo, n.1884–
- zocco, n.1664–1723
- zocle, n.1704–
- zoco, n.1892–
- zodiac, n.1390–
- zodiacal, adj.1576–
- zodiac line, n.1590
- zodiac ring, n.1895–
- zodiographer, n.1650
- zoea, n.1828–
- zoeal, adj.?1870–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1884–In Mexico, a public square, a plaza.
- 1884
The square in front of the Cathedral, called the Zócalo, is the place of universal resort.
J. W. Steele, To Mexico by Palace Car v. 75 - 1884
Beneath us is the great square, with the smaller one, the zocalo, or pleasure garden, in its center.
F. A. Ober, Travels in Mexico xii. 232 - 1912
The Zocalo, as it is called, is the real center of Mexico City.
E. H. Blickfeld, Mexican Journey x. 119 - 1927
And a plaza is a zocalo, a hub.
D. H. Lawrence, Mornings in Mexico 39 - 1957
I read of revolutions, counterrevolutions..in the zócalo.
M. Lowry, Letter 17 March (1967) 398 - 1975
Oaxaca..its zocalo, with its trees and its arcades.
Times 24 May 10/3
society inhabiting and dwelling inhabited place district in relation to human occupation town as opposed to country town or city part of town or city [nouns] open space public square- placeOld EnglishAn open space in a town, a public square, a marketplace. Obsolete.
- streetOld EnglishIn specific uses, chiefly with the. In the ancient world: the public square or forum of a town or city. Obsolete.
- foruma1464–Roman History. The public place or marketplace of a city. In ancient Rome the place of assembly for judicial and other public business.
- pomery1533–1656= pomerium, n.
- piazza1583–A public square or marketplace, esp. one in an Italian town; any similar open public space surrounded by buildings. Also figurative and in…
- agora1591–A public open space where people can assemble, esp. a marketplace, originally in the ancient Greek world; the structures enclosing such a space.
- pomerium1598–The strip of ground marking the formal, religiously constituted boundary of a Roman city. Also in extended use.
- plazaa1661–In Spain and Spanish-speaking countries: a public square, a marketplace.
- squarea1684–An open space or area (approximately quadrilateral and rectangular) in a town or city, enclosed by buildings or dwelling-houses, esp. of a superior…
- piazzetta1730–A small piazza in an Italian town.
- town square1769–(With the) the principal square (square, n. II.12a) in a town, often centrally located and used for markets, festivals, etc.
- place1793–In France (and occasionally other countries): a square in a town. Frequently in proper names.
- Pnyx1820–In ancient Athens: the public place of assembly, a semicircular level cut out of the side of a hill west of the Acropolis.
- zocalo1884–In Mexico, a public square, a plaza.
- plaza1948–Originally and chiefly North American. A large paved area surrounded by or adjacent to shops and businesses, usually designed as a feature of a…
Pronunciation
British 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.
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
Also zócalo and with capital initial.Frequency
zocalo typically occurs about 0.05 times per million words in modern written English.
zocalo 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 zocalo, n., 1880–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.0056 |
| 1890 | 0.0047 |
| 1900 | 0.0044 |
| 1910 | 0.0047 |
| 1920 | 0.0045 |
| 1930 | 0.0061 |
| 1940 | 0.008 |
| 1950 | 0.015 |
| 1960 | 0.029 |
| 1970 | 0.034 |
| 1980 | 0.039 |
| 1990 | 0.044 |
| 2000 | 0.05 |
| 2010 | 0.059 |