zig, n.

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

# zignoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zig mean?

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

About 0.5occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.13
2018 | 0.13
2019 | 0.13
2020 | 0.14
2021 | 0.14
2022 | 0.52
2023 | 0.61
2024 | 0.77

### Where does the noun zig come from?

Earliest known use

1970s

The earliest known use of the noun zig is in the 1970s.

OED's earliest evidence for zig is from 1978, in the writing of Herman Wouk, novelist.

### Nearby entries

1. zibib, n. 1836–
2. ziczac, n. 1844–
3. zidovudine, n. 1987–
4. Ziegfeld, n. 1913–
5. Ziegler, n. 1957–
6. Ziegler-Natta, n. 1965–
7. Ziehl, n. 1892–
8. Ziehl-Neelsen, n. 1892–
9. ziff, n. 1917–
10. ZIFT, n. 1988–
11. zig, n.1978–
12. zig, v. 1969–
13. Zigeuner, n. & adj. 1802–
14. Zigeunerin, n. 1845–83
15. ziggety, int., adj., & adv. 1924–
16. ziggurat, n. 1873–
17. zigzag, n., adj., & adv. 1712–
18. zigzag, v. 1777–
19. zigzag connection, n. 1922–
20. zigzagged, adj. 1774–
21. zigzaggery, n. 1761–

## Meaning & use

1. 1978–
   A movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zag n., adv., & v.
   1. 1978

      > The transports were on a zig away.

      H. Wouk, War & Remembrance vii. 72
   2. 1982

      > ‘They've turned ninety degrees to starboard.’.. ‘A zig, sir?’ ‘Afraid not. They've altered course.’

      A. Melville-Ross, Trigger v. 53
   3. 1985

      > One word more on change and development,..the zigs and zags and the farings forward on one's pilgrimage to God.

      S. Vanauken, Under Mercy x. 246
   1. zigzaggery 1761–
      Zigzag course or proceeding (literal and figurative).
   2. tack 1788–
      figurative and transferred. A zigzag course on land.
   3. zigzagging 1827–
   4. Major-Mitchelling 1900–
      The action of Major-Mitchell, v.
   5. zig 1978–
      A movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zag, n. & adv. & v.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zig typically occurs about 0.5 times per million words in modern written English.

zig is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 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 zig, n., 1970–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1970 | 0.52
1980 | 0.48
1990 | 0.46
2000 | 0.43
2010 | 0.39

### Frequency of zig, 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 | 0.13
2018 | 0.13
2019 | 0.13
2020 | 0.14
2021 | 0.14
2022 | 0.52
2023 | 0.61
2024 | 0.77

Originally published as part of the entry for zig, v.

zig, v. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.