zamang, n.

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

# zamangnoun

## Earlier version

- zamang in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zamang mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zamang. 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 zamang?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1810 | 0.01
1820 | 0.011
1830 | 0.011
1840 | 0.0099
1850 | 0.0079
1860 | 0.0067
1870 | 0.0054
1880 | 0.0048
1890 | 0.0025
1900 | 0.0011
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0003
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zamang pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzamaŋ/

### Where does the noun zamang come from?

Earliest known use

1810s

The earliest known use of the noun zamang is in the 1810s.

OED's earliest evidence for zamang is from 1819, in a translation by Helen Maria Williams, writer.

zamang is a borrowing from an Indigenous language of South America.

### Nearby entries

1. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
2. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
3. zaitech, n. 1986–
4. zakat, n. 1668–
5. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–
6. zakuska, n. 1885–
7. zalambdodont, adj. 1885–
8. zalcitabine, n. 1991–
9. zamacueca, n. 1855–
10. Zamak, n. 1926–
11. zamang, n.1819–
12. zamarra, n. 1841–
13. zama zama, n. 2006–
14. Zamazim, n. a1400–
15. Zambian, adj. & n. 1959–
16. Zambianization, n. 1964–
17. Zambianize, v. 1964–
18. zambo, n. 1819–
19. Zamboni, n. 1965–
20. zambra, n. 1672–
21. zambuk, n. 1906–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from an Indigenous language of South America.
< an Indigenous language of South America.

## Meaning & use

1. 1819–
   A large ornamental leguminous tree (Pithecolobium Saman, suborder Mimoseæ) of tropical South America, having a spreading head of branches of immense extent.
   1. 1819

      > The famous zamang del Guayre, known throughout the province for the enormous extent of it's branches, which form a hemispheric head five hundred and seventy-six feet in circumference. The zamang is a fine species of mimosa,..The branches extend like an immense umbrella, and bend toward the ground, from which they remain at a uniform distance of twelve or fifteen feet.

      H. M. Williams, translation of A. von Humboldt, Personal Narrative of Travels vol. IV. 116
   2. 1852

      > The zamang is a species of mimosa,..the leaves of this giant of nature are as small and delicate as those of the silver-willow.

      E. Sullivan, Rambles N. & South Amer. 400
   plants
   1. ambrosie Old English–1754
      Ambrosia (in various mythological and related senses). In early use also: a medicinal plant, perhaps wood sage (cf. ambrose, n. 1).
   2. minced pie 1739
      = mince pie, n. 2. Obsolete. rare.
   3. Christmas bush 1750–
      a. A rapidly growing tropical American shrub, Chromolaena odorata (family Asteraceae), having aromatic foliage and panicles of white tubular…
   4. black-gum 1785
      Any of several North American trees of the genus Nyssa (family Nyssaceae); esp. N. sylvatica, chiefly of eastern and southern areas, sometimes…
   5. Nandina 1787–
      A monotypic genus of shrubs of the family Berberidaceae, characterized by bipinnate leaves, panicles of small white flowers, and red or purple…
   6. allamanda 1789–
      Any of various shrubs and lianas constituting the tropical American genus Allamanda (family Apocynaceae); esp. any of several cultivated varieties of…
   7. restio 1796–
      Any of various reed-like plants of, or formerly of, the genus Restio (family Restionaceae), superficially resembling horsetails, chiefly native to…
   8. moutan 1808–
      The tree peony Paeonia suffruticosa, a large shrub bearing white or pink magenta-blotched flowers, which is native to China and Bhutan and from…
   9. tree peony 1811–
      = moutan, n.
   10. snowberry 1815–
       A rubiaceous shrub (Chiococca racemosa), native to the West Indies and Florida, cultivated as a greenhouse or hothouse plant.
   11. aucuba 1819–
       A well-known hardy evergreen diœcious shrub (Aucuba Japonica, family Cornaceæ), with laurel-like leaves usually blotched with pale yellow, grown for…
   12. zamang 1819–
       A large ornamental leguminous tree (Pithecolobium Saman, suborder Mimoseæ) of tropical South America, having a spreading head of branches of…
   13. Deutzia 1837–
       A genus of shrubs (family Saxifragaceæ), natives of China and Japan, cultivated for the beauty of their white flowers. D. gracilis is a well-known…
   14. spotted laurel 1841–
       An evergreen shrub, Aucuba japonica, native to China, Korea, and Japan but widely cultivated elsewhere as a garden plant, having red berries and…
   15. ground-jasmine 1848–
       Passerina Stelleri (Treasury Bot. 1866).
   16. nandin 1866–
       The celestial bamboo or nandina (cf. Nandina, n.).
   17. heavenly bamboo 1871–
       = Nandina, n.
   18. spathodea 1873–
       The African tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata, of the evergreen family Bignoniaceae, grown as an ornamental throughout the tropics for its…
   19. Escallonia 1882–
       A genus of flowering shrubs (family Saxifragaceæ) found in the temperate parts of South America.
   20. nanten 1884–
       = nandin, n.
   21. African tulip tree 1891–
       A large tropical African tree, Spathodea campanulata (family Bignoniaceae), with bright red flowers, widely grown in tropical climates for…
   22. handkerchief tree 1900–
       a. A decorative arrangement of handkerchiefs in the form of a tree, spec. such an arrangement on a stand, displayed for sale (now rare); b. the dove…
   23. o-matsu 1916–
       The Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii, a valuable ornamental and timber tree. Also called kuro-matsu.
   24. Japanese pagoda tree 1924–
       Sophora japonica, the scholar tree.
   25. dove tree 1933–
       Davidia involucrata and its varieties.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzamaŋ/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also zaman, saman.

## Frequency

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

zamang 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 zamang, n., 1810–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1810 | 0.01
1820 | 0.011
1830 | 0.011
1840 | 0.0099
1850 | 0.0079
1860 | 0.0067
1870 | 0.0054
1880 | 0.0048
1890 | 0.0025
1900 | 0.0011
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0003
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

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

zamang, n. was last modified in December 2024.