zea maizenoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zea maize mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zea maize. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zea maize?
| 1810 | 0.0073 |
| 1820 | 0.011 |
| 1830 | 0.0096 |
| 1840 | 0.0083 |
| 1850 | 0.0069 |
| 1860 | 0.0067 |
| 1870 | 0.0066 |
| 1880 | 0.0052 |
| 1890 | 0.0012 |
| 1900 | 0.0011 |
| 1910 | 0.0011 |
| 1920 | 0.0001 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0002 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0004 |
| 2000 | 0.0004 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |
Where does the noun zea maize come from?
Earliest known use
1810s
The earliest known use of the noun zea maize is in the 1810s.
OED's earliest evidence for zea maize is from 1811, in a translation by J. Black.
Nearby entries
- zealotry, n.1653–
- zealous, adj.?1495–
- zealously, adv.?1495–
- zealousness, n.c1555–
- zealousy, n.1542–
- zeal-pretending, adj.1652–69
- zeal-quenching, adj.1688–1877
- zeal-scoffing, adj.1605
- zeal-transported, adj.a1644–59
- zeal-worthy, adj.1797
- zea maize, n.1811–
- zearalanol, n.1966–
- zearalenone, n.1966–
- zeatin, n.1963–
- zeaxanthin, n.1929–
- Zebedist, n.1574
- zebra, n.1597–
- zebra caterpillar, n.1841–
- zebra crossing, n.1934–
- zebra danio, n.1917–
- zebraed, adj.1806–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1811–Maize, Zea mays; (also) the seeds of this plant collectively.
- 1811
The zea maize was the only farinaceous gramen cultivated by the Americans before the arrival of the Europeans.
J. Black, translation of A. von Humboldt, Political Essay New Spain vol. II. iii. viii. 96 - 1853
The lance-like blades of the zea maize.
M. Reid, Rifle Rangers (new edition) i. 16 - 1917
The maiden gave him..portions of an Indian preparation of the ‘zea maize’.
E. B. Stanton, Fata Morgana 144 - 2005
The Malaysian Garden is home to edible exotics..as well as global staples, notably zea maize, amaranth and soya bean.
Evening Standard 10 August (Homes & Prop. section) 31/2
the world plants particular plants cultivated or valued plants particular food plant or plant product cereal, corn, or grain [nouns] maize types of- green cornc1450–a. Unripe corn (corn, n.¹ II.4a), corn not ready for harvesting (now rare); b. spec. (chiefly North American) maize picked at a stage before full…
- flint corn1705–The name of certain varieties of maize, esp. Zea mays var. indurata, having very hard kernels.
- blue corn1722–A variety of relatively high-protein maize with kernels of a bluish colour.
- flint1802–Elliptical for flint corn (see compounds C.3).
- field corn1808–Any of various kinds of maize with a relatively low sugar content, grown principally as animal food or for processing rather than for eating as a…
- zea maize1811–Maize, Zea mays; (also) the seeds of this plant collectively.
- sweet corna1817–A sweet-flavoured variety of maize.
- squaw corn1823–Any of several varieties of maize, typically ones having soft grains of various colours; cf. soft corn, n.² 1.
- dent corn1853–A variety of corn (maize) having a dent or depression in each kernel. Also elliptical. (See also quot. 1909.) U.S.
- tassel-corn1883–The grain of maize borne abnormally on the ‘tassel’ (see tassel, n.¹ 3a).
- country gentleman1892–Frequently with capital initials. Originally U.S. A variety of sweetcorn with sweet, pale yellow, peg-shaped kernels.
Frequency
zea maize typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zea maize is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zea maize, n., 1810–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1810 | 0.0073 |
| 1820 | 0.011 |
| 1830 | 0.0096 |
| 1840 | 0.0083 |
| 1850 | 0.0069 |
| 1860 | 0.0067 |
| 1870 | 0.0066 |
| 1880 | 0.0052 |
| 1890 | 0.0012 |
| 1900 | 0.0011 |
| 1910 | 0.0011 |
| 1920 | 0.0001 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0002 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0004 |
| 2000 | 0.0004 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |