zwanzigernoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zwanziger mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zwanziger. 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 noun zwanziger?
| 1830 | 0.029 |
| 1840 | 0.025 |
| 1850 | 0.023 |
| 1860 | 0.022 |
| 1870 | 0.022 |
| 1880 | 0.018 |
| 1890 | 0.012 |
| 1900 | 0.0075 |
| 1910 | 0.0069 |
| 1920 | 0.0063 |
| 1930 | 0.0061 |
| 1940 | 0.0079 |
| 1950 | 0.011 |
| 1960 | 0.015 |
| 1970 | 0.017 |
| 1980 | 0.019 |
| 1990 | 0.022 |
| 2000 | 0.023 |
| 2010 | 0.024 |
How is the noun zwanziger pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zwanziger come from?
Earliest known use
1820s
The earliest known use of the noun zwanziger is in the 1820s.
OED's earliest evidence for zwanziger is from 1828, in the writing of R. Craig.
zwanziger is a borrowing from German.
Nearby entries
- Zurich, n.1870–
- Zuricher, n.1673–
- zurla, n.1940–
- zurlite, n.1826–
- zurna, n.1870–
- zurr, n.1803–
- zussmanite, n.1965–
- zut, int.1915–
- zuur-veldt, n.1785–
- zuz, n.1688–
- zwanziger, n.1828–
- Zweig, n.1973–
- zwieback, n.1894–
- zwieselite, n.1861–
- Zwinglian, n. & adj.1532–
- Zwinglianism, n.1581–
- Zwinglianist, n.1673–1759
- zwischenzug, n.1941–
- zwitterion, n.1906–
- zwitterionic, adj.1946–
- Zydeco, n.1949–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1828–A former Austrian silver coin, equivalent to twenty kreutzers.
- 1828
A passenger pays a zwanzig[er] or 17½ sous of France per hour.
R. Craig in Mem. (1862) viii. 151 - 1841
I possess a burning pocket-full of zwanzigers.
R. Browning, Pippa Passes ii, in Bells & Pomegranates No. I 10/2 - 1866
Lest the fervid imagination of the gondolier rise to zwanzigers and florins.
W. D. Howells, Venetian Life xix
society trade and finance money medium of exchange or currency coins collective coins of other specific regions and countries [nouns] European coins Austrian coins- kreutzera1549–A small coin (originally silver, afterwards copper) formerly current in parts of Germany and in Austria.
- schilling1753–A silver coin and money of account formerly in use in North Germany, of the value of […] mark or 12 pfennigs; (in 1910 slightly over 1d. sterling)…
- zwanziger1828–A former Austrian silver coin, equivalent to twenty kreutzers.
- Maria Theresa1863–A large silver thaler originally issued to commemorate the death of Maria Theresa and subsequently restruck, with the date and design unchanged, at…
- krone1893–The principal monetary unit of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892 to 1918, consisting of 100 heller; (also) a gold coin representing one…
- korona1899–The principal monetary unit of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892 to 1918, consisting of 100 filler (filler, n.³); cf. krone, n.¹ 3. Later: the…
- groschen1978–A former monetary unit of Austria, equivalent to one hundredth of a schilling; (also) a coin of this value.
Pronunciation
British 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.
Frequency
zwanziger typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.
zwanziger 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 zwanziger, n., 1830–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1830 | 0.029 |
| 1840 | 0.025 |
| 1850 | 0.023 |
| 1860 | 0.022 |
| 1870 | 0.022 |
| 1880 | 0.018 |
| 1890 | 0.012 |
| 1900 | 0.0075 |
| 1910 | 0.0069 |
| 1920 | 0.0063 |
| 1930 | 0.0061 |
| 1940 | 0.0079 |
| 1950 | 0.011 |
| 1960 | 0.015 |
| 1970 | 0.017 |
| 1980 | 0.019 |
| 1990 | 0.022 |
| 2000 | 0.023 |
| 2010 | 0.024 |