zenerhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zener_n1%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZener, n.¹
Revised 2018

Zenernoun1

  1. 1934–
    attributive. Designating a set of cards designed for use in parapsychology experiments, the symbols used on these cards, or a test conducted using them.
    Zener cards were developed as a means of investigating the possibility of extrasensory perception. A set consists of 25 cards, each showing one of five simple symbols, the likelihood of a subject guessing the symbol correctly by chance being one in five for each card.
    1. 1934
      We have once since substituted a ‘heart’ for the ‘waves’ figure but later returned to the latter. I shall hereinafter call these cards the ‘Zener cards’.
      J. B. Rhine, Extra-sensory Perception iv. 50
    2. 1941
      The guesser at Zener cards all unwittingly was guessing correctly..a card which was one or two places earlier or later in the sequence.
      Proceedings of Society Psychical Research 1940–1 vol. 46 153
    3. 1951
      On each letter box was pinned one of the five Zener symbols.
      Proceedings of Society Psychical Research vol. 49 151
    4. 1978
      There are a dozen ways of beating the odds with the Zener packs they use for card-guessing tests.
      D. Bloodworth, Crosstalk xiv. 119
    5. 2015
      Results of the online Zener test were automatically calculated by a program from an unknown internet programmer.
      S. Ertel in D. Broderick & B. Goertzel, Evidence for Psi 154

Zener, n.¹ was revised in June 2018.

Zener, n.¹ was last modified in July 2023.