zazennoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zazen mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zazen. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zazen?
| 1880 | 0.0005 |
| 1890 | 0.0009 |
| 1900 | 0.0024 |
| 1910 | 0.0031 |
| 1920 | 0.0036 |
| 1930 | 0.0059 |
| 1940 | 0.016 |
| 1950 | 0.051 |
| 1960 | 0.09 |
| 1970 | 0.13 |
| 1980 | 0.16 |
| 1990 | 0.18 |
| 2000 | 0.18 |
| 2010 | 0.17 |
How is the noun zazen pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zazen come from?
Earliest known use
early 1700s
The earliest known use of the noun zazen is in the early 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zazen is from 1727, in a translation by John Scheuchzer, physician and naturalist.
zazen is a borrowing from Japanese.
Etymons: Japanese zazen.
Nearby entries
- zariba, v.1885–
- zarnich, n.1612–
- Zarp, n.1895–
- zarzuela, n.1888–
- zat, n.1934–
- zatch, n.1950–
- zawiya, n.1836–
- zawn, n.1865–
- zayat, n.1823–
- zayde, n.1946–
- zazen, n.1727–
- zazzy, adj.1961–
- Z band, n.1950–
- ZBB, n.1976–
- Z-bed, n.1973–
- Z-car, n.1961–
- Z-day, n.1925–
- Z-DNA, n.1979–
- ze, pron.1864–
- zea, n.1562–
- zeagonite, n.1823–
Etymology
Summary
Notes
Meaning & use
- 1727–In Zen Buddhism: the practice of sitting meditation.
- 1727
Sasen [German Sasen] is a profound meditation of divine misteries and holy things, which so entirely takes up a man's mind, that his body lies, as it were, destitute of all sense and life, unmov'd by any external object whatsoever.
J. G. Scheuchzer, translation of E. Kæmpfer, History of Japan vol. I. iv. iv. 308 - 1897
How can you think of not-thinking? That is thinking of nothing. This is the most important art of Zazen.
Princ., Pract. & Enlightenment Soto Sect 22 - 1907
Zazen is not meant to induce a trance or a state of self-hypnotization.
Journal Pali Text Soc. 1906–7 36 - 1983
He had taken to practising what he hoped was zazen in the yard.
M. Furlong, Cousins xxi. 167 - 2014
Breath counting is a standard practice in many forms of meditation and is often used in the Zen Buddhist practice of Zazen.
J. B. Ford, Auto Process Therapy iv. 37
- vipassana1688–Esp. in Theravada Buddhism: a form of meditation practised with the intention of achieving direct personal insight into the truth of Buddhist…
- zazen1727–In Zen Buddhism: the practice of sitting meditation.
- samatha1863–A form of meditation practised with the intention of achieving mental tranquillity; the state of tranquillity achieved by this. Contrasted with vip…
- vipashyana1863–A form of meditation practised with the intention of achieving direct personal insight into the truth of Buddhist teachings; the insight achieved…
- sitting meditation1906–(Originally in Zen Buddhism) meditation practised while seated, typically on the floor in a cross-legged position with the back straight; (also) an…
- sitting1913–A period of time spent meditating while seated, typically on the floor in a cross-legged position with the back straight. Also: an event in which…
- sesshin1922–In Zen Buddhism: an extended period (typically several days) of intensive meditation and practice; (now spec.) a meditation retreat.
- kinhin1954–Chiefly in Zen Buddhism: the practice of walking meditation, esp. between periods of zazen or sitting meditation; (also) an instance of this. Cf. wal…
- walking meditation1961–(Originally) any period of contemplation or reflection engaged in while walking; (later, chiefly in Zen Buddhism) meditation practised while…
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
- 1700ssasen
- 1800s–zazen
- 1900szasen
- 1900s–za-zen
Frequency
zazen typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.
zazen 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 zazen, 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 | 0.0005 |
| 1890 | 0.0009 |
| 1900 | 0.0024 |
| 1910 | 0.0031 |
| 1920 | 0.0036 |
| 1930 | 0.0059 |
| 1940 | 0.016 |
| 1950 | 0.051 |
| 1960 | 0.09 |
| 1970 | 0.13 |
| 1980 | 0.16 |
| 1990 | 0.18 |
| 2000 | 0.18 |
| 2010 | 0.17 |
Compounds & derived words
- 1727–General use as a modifier, as in zazen meditation, zazen practice.
- 1727
It being customary amongst al the Sasen Priests [German Sasen Pfaffen], to carry something of this nature about them.
J. G. Scheuchzer, translation of E. Kæmpfer, History of Japan vol. I. iv. iv. 308 - 1912
At Kamakura is the Kenchoji, the Engakuji, and the Jochiji, where any one may be put through Zasen practice by complying with the usual requirements.
Japan Magazine August 259/2 - 1973
Three hours of daily zazen meditation.
A. Broinowski, Take One Ambassador viii. 108 - 2003
She was able to get back in touch with the core of her zazen meditation and found that its reawakening served her well.
B. Wagner, Still Holding v. 336