Zairoisnoun & adjective
Factsheet
What does the word Zairois mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the word Zairois. 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 word Zairois?
| 1970 | 0.014 |
| 1980 | 0.013 |
| 1990 | 0.013 |
| 2000 | 0.013 |
| 2010 | 0.012 |
How is the word Zairois pronounced?
British English
Where does the word Zairois come from?
Earliest known use
1970s
The earliest known use of the word Zairois is in the 1970s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zairois is from 1973, in the writing of J. J. MacKelvey.
Zairois is a borrowing from French.
Nearby entries
- Zaghlulist, n. & adj.1921–
- zaguan, n.1851–
- Zahal, n.1959–
- zaibatsu, n.1937–
- Zaidi, n.1709–
- zaikai, n.1968–
- zaim, n.1807–
- zaire, n.1967–
- Zairean, n. & adj.1972–
- Zairese, adj. & n.1974–
- Zairois, n. & adj.1973–
- zaitech, n.1986–
- zakat, n.1668–
- Zakka Khel, n.1860–
- zakuska, n.1885–
- zalambdodont, adj.1885–
- zalcitabine, n.1991–
- zamacueca, n.1855–
- Zamak, n.1926–
- zamang, n.1819–
- zamarra, n.1841–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1973–
- 1973
The state of war against tsetse as the Zairois assess it will dictate the role that this institution may play in further research.
J. J. MacKelvey, Man against Tsetse iv. 228 - 1974
The Zairois people are warm, helpful and charming.
Observer 22 September 20/3 - 1975
It is in any case an offence for a Zaïrois to wear such an ‘un-authentic’ item of dress as a tie.
R. Barclay, Ernest Bevin & Foreign Office viii. 159 - 1977
A Zairois student learns how to take a skin smear.
New Day Summer 10 (caption) - 1982
The Government intends the industry to employ an eventual 700 Zairois.
Financial Times 26 January 22/1
- Nigritian1757–Originally: of, relating to, or characteristic of Nigritia. Also more generally, and in later use: black African or African American.
- Sudanic1802–Of, belonging to, or relating to Sudan or its inhabitants; spec. to a proposed family of languages spoken in the Sahelian region of Africa, which…
- Sudanese1853–Of, belonging to, or relating to Sudan or its inhabitants.
- Mozambican1875–Of or relating to Mozambique or its inhabitants.
- Nigerian1876–Of or relating to Nigeria or its inhabitants.
- Zanzibari1884–Of, belonging to, or relating to Zanzibar or its inhabitants.
- Rhodesian1892–Of, relating to, or from Rhodesia (see etymological note).
- Lagosian1894–Of or relating to Lagos; (also) designating a person born or living in Lagos.
- Chadian1960–Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Chad or its people.
- Katangese1962–Of, relating to, or belonging to Katanga. Cf. Congolese, n. & adj.
- Tanzanian1964–Of, belonging to, or relating to Tanzania or its inhabitants.
- Namibian1968–Of or relating to Namibia or its inhabitants.
- Malawian1970–Of or relating to Malawi or its inhabitants.
- Zairean1973–Of or relating to Zaire.
- Zairois1973–= Zairean, n. & adj.
- Zairese1974–= Zairean, n. & adj. Cf. Zairois, n. & adj.
the world people nations native or inhabitant of Africa native or inhabitant of West Africa [nouns] countries or regions- Guinean1589–An inhabitant of Guinea.
- Kongo1600–A member of a people living in the region along the lower Congo river; (also) this people; = Bakongo, n.
- Gambian1744–A native or inhabitant of Gambia (see sense B.1.); a person of Gambian descent.
- Guinea Negro1748–= Guinea-man, n. 3; also elliptical.
- Congoese1765–A native or inhabitant of various geographical regions around the Congo river; (now) spec. a native or inhabitant of the Republic of the Congo or the…
- Sierra Leonean1791–A person born or living in Sierra Leone; a person descended from people from Sierra Leone.
- Congolese1800–A native or inhabitant of various geographical regions around the Congo river; (now) spec. a native or inhabitant of the Republic of the Congo or…
- Senegambian1809–A native or inhabitant of a region in Western Africa surrounding the Senegal River and the Gambia River, known historically as Senegambia; (now…
- Liberian1826–A native or inhabitant of Liberia. Cf. Americo-Liberian, n.
- Guinea-man1830–A native of Guinea.
- Lagosian1860–A person born or living in Lagos.
- Nigerian1860–A native or inhabitant of Nigeria.
- Basenji1906–With reference to the Congo basin: an Indigenous person who has not adopted European customs or converted to Christianity. Now historical.
- Ghanaian1949–A native or inhabitant of Ghana, a West African state formerly known as the Gold Coast.
- assimilado1953–In the former Portuguese colonies of Africa: an African who has been admitted to Portuguese citizenship. Also attributive.
- Upper Voltan1955–A person born or living in Upper Volta; a person of Upper Voltan descent. Cf. Burkinabe, n., Voltaic, n. B.1b.
- Voltaic1959–A speaker of a language in this branch of the Niger-Congo family, considered collectively. Chiefly in plural (also with unchanged plural).
- Mali1960–= Malian, n.
- Malian1960–A native or inhabitant of Mali, an ancient empire (of the 13th and 14th centuries) and a modern republic (founded in 1960) in West Africa; = Mali, n.³
- Voltaic1960–A person born or living in Upper Volta in West Africa (now called Burkina Faso); a person of Upper Voltan descent. Cf. Burkinabe, n. Now historical.
- Katangese1962–A native or inhabitant of the Congolese province of Katanga, or of the shortlived independent state of the same name (1960–3); esp. (historical) a…
- Biafran1967–A native or inhabitant of Biafra.
- Zairean1972–A native or inhabitant of the Republic of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
- Ivorian1973–A native or inhabitant of the Ivory Coast.
- Zairois1973–= Zairean, n. & adj.
- Zairese1974–= Zairean, n. & adj. Cf. Zairois, n. & adj.
- Burkinabe1984–A person born in the western African country of Burkina Faso (called Upper Volta before 1984); a descendant of people from Burkino Faso. Also with the…
- Naija2000–A native or inhabitant of Nigeria; a person of Nigerian descent.
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.
Forms
Variant forms
Also Zaïrois.Frequency
Zairois typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zairois 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 Zairois, n. & adj., 1970–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.014 |
| 1980 | 0.013 |
| 1990 | 0.013 |
| 2000 | 0.013 |
| 2010 | 0.012 |