zinfandel, n.

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

# zinfandelnoun

## Earlier version

- zinfandel in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zinfandel mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zinfandel. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 zinfandel?

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.0004
1890 | 0.0004
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0008
1920 | 0.0013
1930 | 0.0013
1940 | 0.0019
1950 | 0.0036
1960 | 0.0072
1970 | 0.012
1980 | 0.018
1990 | 0.02
2000 | 0.024
2010 | 0.028

### How is the noun zinfandel pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪnfandɛl/

### Where does the noun zinfandel come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zinfandel is from 1880, in Californian.

### Nearby entries

1. zincy, adj. 1757–
2. zinc yellow, n. 1847–
3. zindabad, int. & n. 1930–
4. zindan, n. 1844–
5. Zindikite, n. 1694–
6. Zindiq, n. 1667–
7. zine, n. 1946–
8. zineb, n. 1950–
9. zines, int.?1701–10
10. zinester, n. 1986–
11. zinfandel, n.1880–
12. zing, v. 1899–
13. zing, int. & n. 1875–
14. zingana, n.¹ 1883
15. zingana, n.² 1911–
16. Zingani, n. 1581–1879
17. Zingara, n. 1756–
18. Zingaro, n. 1600–
19. zingel, n. 1803–
20. zingelin perch, n. 1803
21. zinger, n. 1906–

## Meaning & use

1. 1. a.
      1896–
      A red or white dry wine of California.
      1. 1896

         > He drinks cheap Zinfandel, which must kill him eventually.

         Pall Mall Magazine March 393
      2. 1897

         > Four-year-old zinfandel.

         Outing November 144/2
      wine
      1. zinfandel 1896–
         A red or white dry wine of California.
      2. Gamay Beaujolais 1951–
         A red wine made from an early-ripening clone of Pinot Noir grown in California; (also) the grape itself, formerly thought to be a distinct variety.
      3. Napa 1977–
         Napa valley wine.
      4. Meritage 1989–
         Any of various wines of high quality produced exclusively in the United States from blends of Bordeaux grape varieties (see also quot. 1994). A proprietary name in the United States.
      View in Historical Thesaurus
   2. b.
      1880–
      The grape from which this wine is made. In full, Zinfandel grape.
      1. 1880

         > The favorite wine grapes are the Zinfandel, Riesling and Chasselas.

         Californian vol. II. 219/1
      2. 1977

         > ‘What kind of grapes do you grow for the market?’ ‘Zinfandels mostly. We have some Thompsons—’ ‘Ah, well the color of zinfandels is excellent, but we want a sweeter grape.’

         H. Fast, Immigrants iv. 254
      3. 1980

         > We were..in California... My companion..grows Chardonnay, Cabernet and Zinfandel grapes.

         Times 23 September 10/1
      wine
      1. frontignac a1642–
         The grape from which this is made.
      2. frontignan 1756–77
         = frontignac, n.
      3. Pineau 1763–
         = Pinot, n.
      4. Nebbiolo 1788–
         A variety of black grape grown in Piedmont in north-western Italy. Also: red wine produced from this grape.
      5. Riesling 1788–
         The name of a variety of vine and grape widely grown in Germany, Austria, Alsace, and elsewhere; the dry white wine produced from this grape.
      6. aligoté 1828–
         A variety of grape grown in Burgundy; a white wine made from this grape.
      7. Barbera 1841–
         Any of various chiefly dry red wines made from a variety of red grape native to Piedmont, Italy, and now cultivated throughout Italy and elsewhere…
      8. Sauvignon 1846–
         A white grape of France; the white wine made from this grape. Also attributive or as adj.
      9. Pinot 1854–
         Any of several varieties of grapevine, associated particularly with the Burgundy region of France; the grape of these vines. Also: wine made from…
      10. garnacha 1860–
          A (usually sweet) red or rosé wine made from a variety of grape grown in Spain; (also) this variety of grape.
      11. Sémillon 1875–
          A white grape of France; also a similar one grown abroad; the white wine made from this grape.
      12. zinfandel 1880–
          The grape from which this wine is made. In full, Zinfandel grape.
      13. Bual 1882–
          A variety of winemaking grape; the madeira made from this.
      14. Viognier 1908–
          A variety of white wine grape, grown traditionally in the northern Rhône region of France, but since the 1980s also elsewhere, noted for…
      15. vernaccia 1929–
          A wine (usually white) produced in the San Gimignano area of Italy and in Sardinia; also, the grape from which it is made.
      16. Verdicchio 1940–
          A white grape grown in the Marche region of Italy; also, the dry white wine made from this grape.
      17. Cinsault 1945–
          A variety of red wine grape grown in southern France, northern Africa, and South Africa; the simple, fruity rosé or red wine made from this grape.
      18. Gamza 1959–
          A dark red grape of Bulgaria, or the red wine made from it. Also attributive.
      19. Prosecco 1966–
          Originally: †any of various wines grown in the region of Istria (obsolete). Now: a white wine, slightly or (usually) fully sparkling and ranging from… A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
      20. Albariño 1972–
          A light, aromatic white wine produced originally and principally in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. Also: the grape from which this wine…
      View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪnfandɛl/

####

##### 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

zinfandel typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

zinfandel 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zinfandel, n., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.0004
1890 | 0.0004
1900 | 0.0005
1910 | 0.0008
1920 | 0.0013
1930 | 0.0013
1940 | 0.0019
1950 | 0.0036
1960 | 0.0072
1970 | 0.012
1980 | 0.018
1990 | 0.02
2000 | 0.024
2010 | 0.028

### Frequency of zinfandel, n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

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 corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.063
2018 | 0.057
2019 | 0.051
2020 | 0.042
2021 | 0.037
2022 | 0.031
2023 | 0.029
2024 | 0.029

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

zinfandel, n. was last modified in December 2024.