zillanoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zilla mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zilla. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zilla?
| 1780 | 0.001 |
| 1790 | 0.0036 |
| 1800 | 0.0034 |
| 1810 | 0.0034 |
| 1820 | 0.0033 |
| 1830 | 0.0042 |
| 1840 | 0.0069 |
| 1850 | 0.0075 |
| 1860 | 0.0063 |
| 1870 | 0.0069 |
| 1880 | 0.0081 |
| 1890 | 0.0086 |
| 1900 | 0.0079 |
| 1910 | 0.0057 |
| 1920 | 0.0065 |
| 1930 | 0.012 |
| 1940 | 0.024 |
| 1950 | 0.027 |
| 1960 | 0.032 |
| 1970 | 0.036 |
| 1980 | 0.041 |
| 1990 | 0.046 |
| 2000 | 0.046 |
| 2010 | 0.036 |
How is the noun zilla pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zilla come from?
Earliest known use
late 1700s
The earliest known use of the noun zilla is in the late 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zilla is from 1772, in Extract Proc. Comm. of Circuit.
zilla is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Urdu. Partly a borrowing from Persian.
Etymons: Urdu żilaʿ; Persian żilaʿ.
Nearby entries
- zigzaggery, n.1761–
- zigzaggy, adj.a1845–
- zigzag machine, n.1952–
- zigzag trefoil, n.1796–
- zig-zig, n.1918–
- Zika, n.1952–
- Zilavka, n.1926–
- zilch, n. & adj.1925–
- zilch, v.1957–
- zill, n.1754–
- zilla, n.1772–
- -zilla, comb. form
- zilladar, n.1763–
- Zil lane, n.1985–
- zilla parishad, n.1957–
- zillion, n. & adj.1920–
- zillionaire, n.1926–
- zillionth, n. & adj.1940–
- zimb, n.1790–
- Zimba, n.1625–
- Zimbabwe, n.1891–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1772–In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh: an administrative district forming a subdivision of a province, state, or division.
- 1772
The future management of the Huzzoor Zillas. [Note] Small districts near Moorshedabad.
Extract Proc. Comm. of Circuit 20 August in 5th Rep. Comm. Secrecy State E. India Company (1773) 20 - 1801
Within the zilla, or district of Calcutta.
Asiatic Annual Register 1800 Characters 24 - 1886
In Panch Maháls in the town of Dohad the fever death-rate is higher than in the zilla.
22nd Annual Rep. Sanitary Commissioner of Bombay 1885 81 - 1963
The disintegration of the States into Zillas and the formation of an uniform country through interconnection of Zilla Parishads seems impractical.
Modern Review (India) February 109/1 - 2004
When interviewed, my own respondents identified primarily with their zillah when questioned about their origin.
Journal Southeast Asian Studies vol. 35 6 - 2009
To make International Inspiration a total success, such initiatives should also be taken to the zilas, district towns and thanas.
Dhaka Courier (Nexis) 29 October
society authority rule or government territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to an administrative division of territory [nouns] in India- pargana1614–In India: an administrative district, comprising a number of villages; a subdivision of a zilla.
- sirkar1627–A province; a revenue division. Cf. circar, n.
- zilla1772–In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh: an administrative district forming a subdivision of a province, state, or division.
- district1776–spec. In British India: a division or subdivision of a province or presidency, constituting the most important unit of civil administration, having…
- mahal1793–1885In South Asia: a territorial division; a division of an estate or tract of land forming a unit let out for farming or hunting purposes. Also: a ward…
- taluk1793–originally. A hereditary estate belonging to a local proprietor; also, more usually, a subdivision of a zillah or district, comprising a number…
- mohalla1825–Chiefly in South Asia: a neighbourhood or municipal ward, frequently one inhabited by a particular social group. Cf. mahal, n. 3.
- Union Territory1947–Any of several territories of India that are administered by the central government.
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
Forms
Variant forms
- 1700szelah, zilah
- 1700s–zilla, zillah
- 1900s–zila
Frequency
zilla typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.
zilla 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 of zilla, n., 1780–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1780 | 0.001 |
| 1790 | 0.0036 |
| 1800 | 0.0034 |
| 1810 | 0.0034 |
| 1820 | 0.0033 |
| 1830 | 0.0042 |
| 1840 | 0.0069 |
| 1850 | 0.0075 |
| 1860 | 0.0063 |
| 1870 | 0.0069 |
| 1880 | 0.0081 |
| 1890 | 0.0086 |
| 1900 | 0.0079 |
| 1910 | 0.0057 |
| 1920 | 0.0065 |
| 1930 | 0.012 |
| 1940 | 0.024 |
| 1950 | 0.027 |
| 1960 | 0.032 |
| 1970 | 0.036 |
| 1980 | 0.041 |
| 1990 | 0.046 |
| 2000 | 0.046 |
| 2010 | 0.036 |
Frequency of zilla, 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 | 0.11 |
| 2018 | 0.11 |
| 2019 | 0.11 |
| 2020 | 0.11 |
| 2021 | 0.1 |
| 2022 | 0.095 |
| 2023 | 0.096 |
| 2024 | 0.088 |
Compounds & derived words
- zilla parishad, n. 1957–(In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh) a body…
- C.1.1795–General use as a modifier, as in zilla court, zilla election, zilla school, etc.
- 1795
Matthew Leslie, Judge of the Zillah Court of Rungpore.
Bengal or East-India Cal. 7 - 1814
Punishments..executed..by the Zillah judge.
B. Heyne, Tracts on India 323 - 1854
Ahmedabad, 300 miles from Bombay, is a zillah station.
J. H. Stocqueler, Hand-book of British India (ed. 3) 340 - 1908
The construction of a new building for the Zilla School at Chaibassa has..been sanctioned by the Government of Bengal.
Indian Engin. 16 May 313/2 - 2015
The government had written to the SEC asking for postponement of the zilla elections.
Times of India (Nexis) 30 January
- C.2.
- zilla parishad, n. 1957–(In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh) a body…
-