zug, n.

zug
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zug_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zugnoun

## Earlier version

- zug in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zug mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zug. 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 zug?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1890 | 0.0069
1900 | 0.0064
1910 | 0.0066
1920 | 0.0064
1930 | 0.0086
1940 | 0.0093
1950 | 0.0094
1960 | 0.0096
1970 | 0.0099
1980 | 0.0096
1990 | 0.01
2000 | 0.0071
2010 | 0.0065

### How is the noun zug pronounced?

#### British English

/tsuːɡ/
tsoog

### Where does the noun zug come from?

Earliest known use

1890s

The earliest known use of the noun zug is in the 1890s.

OED's earliest evidence for zug is from 1899, in Trade Marks Journal.

zug is of unknown origin.

### Nearby entries

1. Zr, n. 1814–
2. zubr, n. 1763–
3. zubrowka, n. 1916–
4. zucarine, adj. a1425
5. zucca, n. 1818–
6. zucchetto, n. 1853–
7. zucchini, n. 1916–
8. zuche, n. 1358–1676
9. Zuckerkandl, n. 1910–
10. zufolo, n. 1724–
11. zug, n.1899–
12. zugtrompete, n. 1978–
13. Zugunruhe, n. 1950–
14. Zugzwang, n. 1904–
15. zule | zulis, n. 1780–
16. Zulu, n. & adj. 1824–
17. Zulu, v. 1882–
18. Zuludom, n. 1867–
19. Zulu hat, n. 1879–
20. Zuluize, v. 1852–
21. Zulu time, n. 1959–

## Etymology

### Summary

Of unknown origin.
Origin unknown.

## Meaning & use

1. 1899–
   The name (formerly proprietary) for a variety of waterproofed leather used esp. for the uppers of climbing boots.
   1. 1899

      > Zug…222,699. Leather. W. & J. Martin, 63, Brunswick Street, Glasgow; Leather Merchants and Manufacturers.

      Trade Marks Journal 6 September 1092
   2. 1899

      > W. &. J. Martin, tanners, curriers, and leather factors, Albion Leather Works... Sole makers of Zug leather. 63 Brunswick Street, Glasgow.

      Shoe & Leather Trader (Glasgow) 7 December p. ii (advertisement)
   3. 1900

      > The firm made a speciality of ‘zug’ leather, a new production... The manufacture of ‘zug’ is an entirely new process. The leather..will not burn like ordinary leather, and the fibre cannot be destroyed even by boiling... In the process of manufacture, the gelatine of the hide becomes oxidised, and is rendered insoluble and repellant [sic] to water.

      Shoe & Leather Trader (Glasgow) 12 April 819/1
   4. 1907

      > The leather for the uppers should be the best zug or chrome, soft and absolutely waterproof.

      G. D. Abraham, Complete Mountaineer iii. 29
   5. 1929

      > Sports shoes, of pigskin, calf, crocodile, and zug.

      Footwear Organiser July 37/2
   6. 1933

      > I would have soft, almost glove-like, zug or beaver leather for the uppers.

      G. D. Abraham, Modern Mountaineering x. 179
   leather-making climbing
   1. sole-leather 1408–
      Leather of a thick or strong kind used or suitable for the soles of boots, shoes, etc.
   2. clout-leather a1500–1600
      Leather for mending shoes.
   3. bend-leather 1581–
      (Originally northern) the leather of a ‘bend,’ i.e. the thickest and stoutest kind of leather (from the back and flanks), used for soles of boots and…
   4. footing 1591–
      Material used to provide boots, stockings, etc., with feet. Also: the part of a stocking below the ankle. rare.
   5. upper leather 1629–
      upper leather n. Sheet-leather suitable or prepared for such.
   6. capping-leather a1642–
      Leather from which the upper leather of a shoe is made.
   7. shoe leather 1660–
      Leather for the making of shoes; the leather of which (one's) shoes are made.
   8. crop-sole 1824–
      Sole leather obtained from crop-hides.
   9. pannus corium 1841–95
      A kind of soft leather cloth used for the uppers of boots and shoes.
   10. shoe-butt 1858–
       Thick leather (see butt, n.¹¹) for making the soles of shoes.
   11. rough stuff 1860–
       Material used for the bottom part of boots and shoes. Chiefly attributive, esp. in rough stuff cutter, rough stuff cutting. Now historical.
   12. zug 1899–
       The name (formerly proprietary) for a variety of waterproofed leather used esp. for the uppers of climbing boots.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/tsuːɡ/
tsoog

####

##### 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.

####

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

Also with capital initial.

## Frequency

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

zug 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 zug, n., 1890–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1890 | 0.0069
1900 | 0.0064
1910 | 0.0066
1920 | 0.0064
1930 | 0.0086
1940 | 0.0093
1950 | 0.0094
1960 | 0.0096
1970 | 0.0099
1980 | 0.0096
1990 | 0.01
2000 | 0.0071
2010 | 0.0065

zug, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zug, n. was last modified in December 2024.