zirconyl, n.

zirconyl
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zirconyl_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2021

# zirconylnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zirconyl mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zirconyl. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zirconyl?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1900 | 0.015
1910 | 0.014
1920 | 0.017
1930 | 0.017
1940 | 0.019
1950 | 0.02
1960 | 0.014
1970 | 0.013
1980 | 0.012
1990 | 0.0086
2000 | 0.0065
2010 | 0.0049

### How is the noun zirconyl pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzəːkənʌɪl/
ZUR-kuh-nighl
/ˈzəːkənɪl/
ZUR-kuh-nil

#### U.S. English

/ˈzərkəˌnɪl/
ZURR-kuh-nil

### Where does the noun zirconyl come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the noun zirconyl is in the 1880s.

OED's earliest evidence for zirconyl is from 1887, in Journal of Chemical Society.

zirconyl is a borrowing from German.

Etymons: German Zirkonyl.

### Nearby entries

1. zirconia, n. 1794–
2. zirconian, adj. 1802–
3. zirconic, adj. 1804–
4. zirconite, n. 1806–
5. zirconitic, adj. 1883–
6. zirconium, n. 1808–
7. zircon-like, adj. 1857–
8. zircono-, comb. form
9. zirconolite, n. 1957–
10. zircon-syenite, n. 1813–
11. zirconyl, n.1887–
12. zirkelite, n. 1895–
13. zit, n. 1912–
14. zit cream, n. 1968–
15. zitella, n. a1660–
16. zit-face, n. 1974–
17. zit-faced, adj. 1971–
18. zither, n. 1831–
19. zither, v. 1889–
20. zither banjo, n. 1888–
21. zithering, adj. 1889–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from German.
Etymon: German Zirkonyl.
< German Zirkonyl (R. Hornberger 1876, in Ann. d. Chem. vol. 81 238) < Zirkon- (in Zirkonium zirconium n.) + ‑yl ‑yl suffix.

## Meaning & use

Chemistry.

1. 1887–
   A cationic group containing zirconium and oxygen present in some salts and aqueous solutions. Usually as a modifier forming chemical names, as in zirconyl chloride.
   Commonly written ZrO2+ but better represented by a more complex formula such as [Zr4(OH)8]8+.
   1. 1887

      > Zirconyl chloride, ZrOCl2 + 8H2O, is obtained crystallised in prismatic needles from a hydrochloric acid solution of the so-called zirconium oxychloride.

      Journal of Chemical Society vol. 52 ii. 778
   2. 1946

      > It [sc. an analytical method] is based on the bleaching of the lake from a zirconyl salt and sodium alizarin sulphonate by the fluoride ion.

      Nature 24 August 275/2
   3. 1954

      > Zirconyl citrate..may be prepared by adding a dilute solution of citric acid to a freshly prepared solution of zirconyl chloride.

      Thorpe's Dictionary Applied Chemistry (ed. 4) vol. XI. 1119/1
   4. 2008

      > Ammonium metatungstate, zirconyl chloride octahydrate, aluminum nitrate and tetraethoxysilane were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich, MO, USA.

      Applied Catalysis B. vol. 85 87/2
   chemistry
   1. residue 1852–
      Originally: a chemical species produced by the removal of one or more atoms from a molecule; a radical. In later use: a molecule which is…
   2. substituent 1863–
      An atom or group taking the place of another atom or group in a molecule, or occupying a specified position in a molecule. Also attributive or as adj.…
   3. zirconyl 1887–
      A cationic group containing zirconium and oxygen present in some salts and aqueous solutions. Usually as a modifier forming chemical names, as in zi…
   4. fluorophore 1898–
      Any group of atoms whose presence in a molecule causes the molecule to be fluorescent.
   5. bridge 1901–
      Chemistry. A linking group, atom, or bond that connects two molecules, or two parts of a molecule or complex structure.
   6. luminophore 1910–
      A group of atoms in a molecule which is considered to be responsible for its luminescence.
   7. triple 1952–
      In technical and elliptical uses. Chemistry. A group of three atoms or ions.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzəːkənʌɪl/
ZUR-kuh-nighl
/ˈzəːkənɪl/
ZUR-kuh-nil

### U.S. English

/ˈzərkəˌnɪl/
ZURR-kuh-nil

####

##### 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.

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

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

zirconyl 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 zirconyl, n., 1900–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1900 | 0.015
1910 | 0.014
1920 | 0.017
1930 | 0.017
1940 | 0.019
1950 | 0.02
1960 | 0.014
1970 | 0.013
1980 | 0.012
1990 | 0.0086
2000 | 0.0065
2010 | 0.0049

zirconyl, n. was first published in March 2021.

zirconyl, n. was last modified in March 2025.