zoppa, adj.

zoppa
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoppa_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zoppaadjective

## Earlier version

- zoppa, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zoppa mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zoppa. 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 adjective zoppa?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1800 | 0.0013
1810 | 0.0015
1820 | 0.0013
1830 | 0.0011
1840 | 0.0004
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0006
1870 | 0.0007
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0007
1900 | 0.0007
1910 | 0.0008
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0009
1940 | 0.0011
1950 | 0.0013
1960 | 0.0013
1970 | 0.0014
1980 | 0.0014
1990 | 0.0014
2000 | 0.0014
2010 | 0.0014

### How is the adjective zoppa pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈtsɒpə/

### Where does the adjective zoppa come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective zoppa is in the mid 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoppa is from 1740, in a dictionary by James Grassineau.

zoppa is a borrowing from Italian.

Etymons: Italian zoppo.

### Nearby entries

1. zoowoman, n. 1930–
2. zooxanthella, n. 1882–
3. zooxanthellate, adj. & n. 1981–
4. zooxanthin, n. 1868–
5. zoozygosphere, n. 1880–
6. zope, n. 1880–
7. zophoric, adj. 1728–
8. zophorus | zoophorus, n. 1563–
9. zopilote, n. 1787–
10. zopissa, n. 1601–
11. zoppa, adj.1740–
12. Zoque, n. 1891–
13. Zoque–Mixe, adj. & n. 1893–
14. Zorb, n. 1996–
15. zorbing, n. 1996–
16. zorgite, n. 1852–
17. zori, n.?1823–
18. zoril, n. 1774–
19. Zoroastrian, adj. & n. 1597–
20. Zoroastrianism, n. 1832–
21. Zoroastrianize, v. 1891–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Italian.
Etymon: Italian zoppo.
Italian, feminine of zoppo limping (formerly also used).

## Meaning & use

Music.

1. 1740–
   (See quots.) Frequently in alla zoppa.
   1. 1740

      > Zoppo, lame..hopping;..Hence..they call those counter-points.. Contrapunti alla Zoppa... One is obliged to place in each bar to the subject given one note between two others..which, when it comes to be played.., by the frequent syncopes, seems to proceed..in a jumping manner.

      J. Grassineau, translation of S. De Brossard, Musical Dictionary 343
   2. 1889

      > Zoppa, alla, a term applied to a rhythm in which the second quaver in a bar of 2–4 time is accentuated.

      G. Grove, Dictionary of Music vol. IV. 514/1
   3. 1959

      > Alla zoppa,..in a limping manner, syncopated.

      Collins Mus. Encyclopedia 17/1
   4. 1963

      > Once heard, in closing gavotte, with the crisp, jaunty, and insinuating appoggiaturas of the kind called zoppa, hangs in the mind for ever after.

      Times 25 February 5/1
   music
   1. well-modulated 1721–
      Esp. of the voice or a musical sound: skilfully or pleasingly modulated.
   2. zoppa 1740–
      (See quots.) Frequently in alla zoppa.
   3. bright 1872–
      Of musical rhythm or tempo: lively; fast-paced; upbeat.
   4. polymetric 1878–
      Using or combining two or more metres, rhythms, or time signatures.
   5. swinging 1884–
      Applied to a steady vigorous rhythmical onward movement (pace, step, etc.) accompanied, or such as is commonly accompanied, by a swaying from side…
   6. ragtime 1896–
      Of the nature of, relating to, or associated with ragtime.
   7. ragtimey 1901–
   8. polymetrical 1908–
      = polymetric, adj.
   9. foot-tapping 1915–
      Having or characterized by a strong or appealing rhythmical musical beat, to which one might tap one's foot.
   10. toe-tapping 1929–
       a. n. The tapping of feet in time to music; (in quot. 1929 at toe-puff, n., a derogatory term for ‘dancing’); b. adj. that makes one want to tap…
   11. swingy 1933–
       Of music: see swing, n.² I.10b.
   12. sewing machine 1934–
       figurative. Of rhythm: precise, regular, inexpressive.
   13. rocking 1935–
       Originally U.S. Originally: designating a fast, vigorous rhythm in jazz, rhythm and blues, or other form of popular music, or a song or…
   14. ricky-tick 1939–
       Of music, esp. jazz: old-fashioned, unsophisticated, trite; (of a rhythm or tempo) even, repetitive, monotonous. Also in extended use.
   15. raggedy 1949–
       Of music or rhythm: irregular, uneven, syncopated; converted to ragtime. Cf. ragged, adj.⁵
   16. ricky-ticky 1949–
       Of music, esp. jazz: old-fashioned, unsophisticated, trite; (of a band) performing such music. Also of a rhythm or tempo: even, repetitive…
   17. beaty 1956–
       Characterized by a strong rhythmic beat.
   18. square 1958–
       Music. Of rhythm: simple, straightforward.
   19. polymetred 1966–
   20. head-nodding 1967–
       Designating an appealing or gentle musical rhythm to which one might nod one's head; designating a piece of music having such a rhythm.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈtsɒpə/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zoppa 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 zoppa, adj., 1800–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1800 | 0.0013
1810 | 0.0015
1820 | 0.0013
1830 | 0.0011
1840 | 0.0004
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0006
1870 | 0.0007
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0007
1900 | 0.0007
1910 | 0.0008
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0009
1940 | 0.0011
1950 | 0.0013
1960 | 0.0013
1970 | 0.0014
1980 | 0.0014
1990 | 0.0014
2000 | 0.0014
2010 | 0.0014

zoppa, adj. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zoppa, adj. was last modified in December 2024.