zein, n.

zein
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zein_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zeinnoun

## Earlier version

- zein in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zein mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zein. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zein?

About 0.08occurrences per million words in modern written English

1820 | 0.0043
1830 | 0.0038
1840 | 0.0034
1850 | 0.0031
1860 | 0.0028
1870 | 0.0074
1880 | 0.028
1890 | 0.046
1900 | 0.065
1910 | 0.09
1920 | 0.11
1930 | 0.12
1940 | 0.13
1950 | 0.12
1960 | 0.12
1970 | 0.1
1980 | 0.085
1990 | 0.074
2000 | 0.074
2010 | 0.077

### How is the noun zein pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈziːɪn/
ZEE-in

#### U.S. English

/ˈziᵻn/
ZEE-uhn

### Where does the noun zein come from?

Earliest known use

1820s

The earliest known use of the noun zein is in the 1820s.

OED's earliest evidence for zein is from 1820, in the writing of J. Gorham.

zein is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zea n., ‑in suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. Zeelander, n. c1400–
2. Zeelandic, adj. 1802–
3. Zeelandish, adj. 1593–
4. Zeeman, n. 1897–
5. zeep, n. 1878–
6. zeep, v. 1886–
7. zeeping, adj. 1895–
8. zef, adj. 1990–
9. zegadine, n. 1651–
10. zeilanite, n. 1815–
11. zein, n.1820–
12. Zeiss, n. 1876–
13. zeitgeber, n. 1958–
14. zeitgeist, n. 1848–
15. zeitgeisty, adj. 1966–
16. zek, n. 1968–
17. zelant, n. 1624–26
18. zelatrice, n. 1874–
19. zelatrix, n. 1865–
20. Zeldovich, n. 1956–
21. Zelig, n. 1984–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
< zea n. + ‑in suffix1…
< zea n. + ‑in suffix1.

### Notes

With the α forms compare ‑ine suffix5.

## Meaning & use

Biochemistry.

1. 1820–
   The principal protein of maize, used in the manufacture of fibres, coatings, and polymers, and also to glaze and coat foods such as confectionery, nuts, and meat. In later use also (as a count noun): any of the proteins of the prolamine class of which this material consists.
   1. 1820

      > This substance I shall call zeïne, not from any wish to multiply vegetable principles, nor because I think it of any importance, but merely that it may be definitely described and designated without circumlocution.

      J. Gorham in New Eng. Journal Med. & Surgery vol. 9 324
   2. 1822

      > The zëine of John Gorham, is obtained from Indian corn, by infusing it in water.

      Quarterly Journal Science, Literature, & Arts July 402
   3. 1877

      > Zein,..a nitrogenous substance obtained from maize-flour.

      H. Watts, Dictionary of Chemistry vol. V. 1066
   4. 1919

      > A desperate attempt was made to substitute maize for wheat, because it contained 5 to 7 per cent. of protein—called zein—a perfectly good protein in the books and in the laboratories.

      W. Hutchinson, Doctor in War iii. 42
   5. 1976

      > A low-quality or nutritionally ‘incomplete’ protein such as the zein of corn, which lacks the amino acids tryptophan and lysine, cannot support either maintenance or growth.

      Scientific American September 59/1
   6. 1989

      > Zeins, the prolamins of maize, are a group of highly hydrophobic storage proteins..that constitute 50% to 60% of the total protein in the endosperm of the kernel.

      Journal of Heredity vol. 80 17/1
   7. 2008

      > Development of economical methods for extraction of zein and formulation of products is an area of active research.

      N. N. Nichols & R. J. Bothast in W. Vermerris, Genetic Improvem. Bioenergy Crops iii. 84
   food and cooking organic chemistry

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈziːɪn/
ZEE-in

### U.S. English

/ˈziᵻn/
ZEE-uhn

####

##### 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.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- 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

##### α.

1. 1800s
   zëine, zeïne
2. 1800s–1900s
   zeine

##### β.

1. 1800s–
   zein

## Frequency

zein typically occurs about 0.08 times per million words in modern written English.

zein 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zein, n., 1820–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1820 | 0.0043
1830 | 0.0038
1840 | 0.0034
1850 | 0.0031
1860 | 0.0028
1870 | 0.0074
1880 | 0.028
1890 | 0.046
1900 | 0.065
1910 | 0.09
1920 | 0.11
1930 | 0.12
1940 | 0.13
1950 | 0.12
1960 | 0.12
1970 | 0.1
1980 | 0.085
1990 | 0.074
2000 | 0.074
2010 | 0.077

zein, n. was revised in June 2018.

zein, n. was last modified in July 2023.