zebraicadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zebraic mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zebraic. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zebraic?
| 1860 | 0.0001 |
| 1870 | 0.00008 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.0002 |
| 1900 | 0.0002 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0005 |
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0004 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |
How is the adjective zebraic pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adjective zebraic come from?
Earliest known use
1850s
The earliest known use of the adjective zebraic is in the 1850s.
OED's earliest evidence for zebraic is from 1858, in Sheffield & Rotherham Independent.
zebraic is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zebra n., ‑ic suffix.
Nearby entries
- zeatin, n.1963–
- zeaxanthin, n.1929–
- Zebedist, n.1574
- zebra, n.1597–
- zebra caterpillar, n.1841–
- zebra crossing, n.1934–
- zebra danio, n.1917–
- zebraed, adj.1806–
- zebra finch, n.1868–
- zebrafish, n.1771–
- zebraic, adj.1858–
- zebra marking, n.1854–
- zebra moray, n.1933–
- zebra mule, n.1841–
- zebra mussel, n.1866–
- zebrano, n.1908–
- zebra opossum, n.1808–
- zebra parakeet, n.1856–
- zebra plant, n.1826–
- zebra poison, n.1871–74
- zebra print, n. & adj.1932–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1858–Relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a zebra or zebras.
- 1858
After the zebraic episode, came the practical lesson of the day, namely, the complete training of a hitherto unbroken colt.
Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 19 June 8/5 - 1898
The horse is supposed to have been developed out of the zebra, or a zebraic animal.
A. Lang in Longman's Magazine October 559 - 1954
This..is a possible misrepresentation of the quagga as the zebraic stripes would not appear as a pronounced characteristic.
South Afr. Archaeol. Bulletin vol. 9 50/2 - 1997
His hero is as full of equine as of zebraic lore.
Spectator 8 February 40/3
- ray1374–Made of striped cloth; (of cloth) striped. Also as postmodifier. In later use chiefly in ray cloth.
- barreda1387–Ornamented with bars (see bar, n.¹ I.i.4); striped, streaked. spec. in Zoology names (see quots.); also in combinations, as barred-breasted adj.
- rayed?a1400–Esp. of cloth: striped, streaked.
- bendedc1400–1572Striped or banded; in Heraldry having a bend or bends; = bendy, adj.¹
- scowledc1440? Striped.
- listeda1500–Bordered, edged; striped. Also (of colours), arranged in bands or stripes.
- burledc1500Striped.
- palya1509–13gen. Striped. Obsolete.
- stripy1513–Having, marked with, or suggestive of stripes or bands of colour.
- rawed1534–1633Striped.
- straked1537–Streaked, striped.
- railye1539–42Striped; so adorned as to appear striped. Chiefly as postmodifier. Cf. railyet, n.
- rowed1552–Having stripes, streaks, or rows (of a specified colour). Cf. rawed, adj. Now rare.
- begaired1554
- pirnie1597–1865Of cloth: woven from threads of different colours; striped. Cf. pirn, v.
- tiger-marked1597–Parasynthetic, instrumental, similative, etc., as tiger-footed, tiger-hearted, tiger-looking, tiger-marked, tiger-passioned, tiger-proof, tiger-st…
- tiger-striped1597–Parasynthetic, instrumental, similative, etc., as tiger-footed, tiger-hearted, tiger-looking, tiger-marked, tiger-passioned, tiger-proof, tiger-st…
- interlined1601–
- waled1602Striped. open-waled, having an open texture.
- striped1604–Marked with a stripe or stripes, having a band or bands of colour, streaked.
- panached1664–Plumed; †patterned with coloured stripes so as to resemble a plume (obsolete).
- strip1666attributive or adj. Striped. Obsolete.
- ribboned1790–Having ribbon-like markings or bands; characterized by this; striped.
- zebraed1806–Having markings like those of a zebra; striped, esp. in black and white.
- zebrinea1810–Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of a zebra or zebras.
- bestriped1821–
- banded1823–Furnished with a band (or bands); in Heraldry with a band differing in colour from the garb.
- sparred1827–Having spar-like markings.
- notate1857–Marked, spotted.
- zebraic1858–Relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a zebra or zebras.
- stroked1896–Striped. Cf. straked, adj.¹
- tigered1969–Striped or broken into stripes.
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
Frequency
zebraic typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zebraic 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 of zebraic, adj., 1860–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 0.0001 |
| 1870 | 0.00008 |
| 1880 | 0.0002 |
| 1890 | 0.0002 |
| 1900 | 0.0002 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0005 |
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0004 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |