zincite, n.

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

# zincitenoun

## Earlier version

- zincite in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zincite mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.015
1880 | 0.024
1890 | 0.026
1900 | 0.028
1910 | 0.03
1920 | 0.032
1930 | 0.032
1940 | 0.029
1950 | 0.021
1960 | 0.017
1970 | 0.013
1980 | 0.01
1990 | 0.0081
2000 | 0.007
2010 | 0.0063

### How is the noun zincite pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪŋkʌɪt/

### Where does the noun zincite come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zincite is in the 1850s.

OED's only evidence for zincite is from 1854, in the writing of James Dana, geologist, zoologist, and teacher.

zincite is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zinc n., ‑ite suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. zinc finger, n. 1987–
2. zinc-foil, n. 1851–
3. zinc green, n. 1847–
4. zinc-grey | zinc-gray, n. 1881–
5. zincian, adj. 1930–
6. zincic, adj. 1860–
7. zinciferous, adj. 1820–
8. zincification, n. 1891–
9. zincify, v. 1801–
10. zinc-iron, n. & adj. 1849–
11. zincite, n.1854–
12. zinckenite, n. 1835–
13. zinco, n. 1887–
14. zinco-, comb. form
15. zincode, n. 1839–
16. zincograph, n. 1888–
17. zincograph, v. 1865–
18. zincographer, n. 1839–
19. zincographic, adj. 1850–
20. zincography, n. 1834–
21. zincoid, n. 1842–

## Etymology

< zinc n. + ‑ite suffix1.

## Meaning & use

Mineralogy.

1. 1854–
   A native oxide of zinc, of a deep-red or orange-yellow colour, found in New Jersey; red oxide of zinc, red zinc ore.
   1. 1854

      > Zincite Group.

      J. D. Dana, Mineralogy (ed. 4) vol. II. 100
   minerals
   1. calaminaris 1577–
      Earlier name of calamine, n.
   2. calamine 1601–
      An ore of zinc: originally applied, like medieval Latin lapis calaminaris, and the cadmia of Pliny, to both the carbonate ZnCO3, and the hydrous…
   3. calmy 1658
      ? Calamine.
   4. calaminary a1661–1860
      = calaminaris, adj. & n.
   5. mock ore 1681–
      A substance resembling a useful ore; spec. sphalerite (zinc blende).
   6. blende 1683–
      Sulfide of zinc occurring as a native crystalline mineral.
   7. lapis calaminaris 1696–
      Calamine.
   8. mock-lead a1728–
      Sphalerite (zinc blende).
   9. black jack 1728–
      Mining. The mineral sphalerite or blende.
   10. cadmia 1753
       ‘The ancient name of calamine’ (Ure Dict. Arts I. 569); also applied to a sublimate consisting of oxide of zinc (tutty), and to an ore of cobalt.
   11. cadmy 1756
       = cadmia, n.
   12. calamy 1756
   13. calmey 1756
       = calamine, n.
   14. mock jack 1758
       = mock-lead, n.
   15. calamine stone 1761
       attributive, as in calamine stone n. = lapis calaminaris, n.
   16. red zinc ore 1781–
       A red ore of zinc; spec. = zincite, n.
   17. zinc spar 1796–
       An old name for native zinc carbonate (= calamine, n., smithsonite, n. 2).
   18. zinc-blende 1842–
       Native zinc sulphide = blende, n.
   19. smithsonite 1849–
       A mineral consisting of zinc carbonate, typically occurring as colourless prisms and crystalline aggregates.
   20. zincite 1854–
       A native oxide of zinc, of a deep-red or orange-yellow colour, found in New Jersey; red oxide of zinc, red zinc ore.
   21. adamite 1866–
       A zinc mineral occurring as yellow, green, or colourless crystals or crystal aggregates.
   22. adamine 1869–
       = adamite, n.²
   23. liver-blende 1912–
       = zinc-blende, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. spartalite 1843–
      Red oxide of zinc; zincite.
   2. zincite 1854–
      A native oxide of zinc, of a deep-red or orange-yellow colour, found in New Jersey; red oxide of zinc, red zinc ore.
   3. buratite 1863–
      A variety of aurichalcite.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪŋkʌɪt/

####

##### 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 (in Dicts.) zinckite, zinkite.

## Frequency

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

zincite is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 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 zincite, n., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.015
1880 | 0.024
1890 | 0.026
1900 | 0.028
1910 | 0.03
1920 | 0.032
1930 | 0.032
1940 | 0.029
1950 | 0.021
1960 | 0.017
1970 | 0.013
1980 | 0.01
1990 | 0.0081
2000 | 0.007
2010 | 0.0063

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

zincite, n. was last modified in December 2024.