zurrnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zurr mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zurr. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
This word is used in south-western English regional dialect.
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 zurr?
| 1840 | 0.001 |
| 1850 | 0.0008 |
| 1860 | 0.0007 |
| 1870 | 0.0008 |
| 1880 | 0.0009 |
| 1890 | 0.0012 |
| 1900 | 0.0014 |
| 1910 | 0.0016 |
| 1920 | 0.0022 |
| 1930 | 0.0022 |
| 1940 | 0.0022 |
| 1950 | 0.0021 |
| 1960 | 0.0017 |
| 1970 | 0.0016 |
| 1980 | 0.0017 |
| 1990 | 0.0013 |
| 2000 | 0.0014 |
| 2010 | 0.0016 |
How is the noun zurr pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zurr come from?
Earliest known use
1800s
The earliest known use of the noun zurr is in the 1800s.
OED's earliest evidence for zurr is from 1803, in the writing of George Colman, playwright and theatre manager.
zurr is a variant or alteration of another lexical item.
Etymons: sir n.
Nearby entries
- zumbi, n.1704–
- zumboorukchee, n.1840–
- Zuñi, n.1834–
- zunyite, n.1885–
- zuppa, n.1961–
- Zurich, n.1870–
- Zuricher, n.1673–
- zurla, n.1940–
- zurlite, n.1826–
- zurna, n.1870–
- zurr, n.1803–
- zussmanite, n.1965–
- zut, int.1915–
- zuur-veldt, n.1785–
- zuz, n.1688–
- zwanziger, n.1828–
- Zweig, n.1973–
- zwieback, n.1894–
- zwieselite, n.1861–
- Zwinglian, n. & adj.1532–
- Zwinglianism, n.1581–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1803–= sir n.
- 1803
Dan. I be ready, zur.
G. Colman, John Bull i. i. 16 - 1825
I bag ye, zur, to take en vooäth.
J. Jennings, Observations Dialects W. England 118 - 1838
‘Woy, yes, Zur,’ said a waggon-driver, with a short smock-frock... ‘That's how it is, Zur.’
J. Grant, Sketches in London ix. 292 - 1921
Beg pardon, zur, but can't abide here while they be a-reapin'.
H. Williamson, Beautiful Years 117 - 1977
A-ben sleepen in m'bed, zurr, 'tel cock d'crow for dawnen.
F. Parrish, Fire in Barley iii. 30
the world action or operation behaviour good behaviour courtesy courteous forms of address or title [nouns] for a man- goodmanOld English–Used as a respectful form of address, typically between equals. Chiefly Scottish after Middle English. Now rare.
- liefOld English–1400absol. (When used in addressing a superior = Sir! Sire! Lord!) Obsolete.
- beausirec1300–1540Fair sir, a form of address.
- sir1320–Used as a respectful term of address to a superior or, in later use, an equal (sometimes with additions as dear, †fair, †gentle, good); also by…
- lede1377–1488As a form of address.
- fatherhood1461–1682With possessive adjective, as your fatherhood. As a title of respect or respectful form of address for one's father or (in extended use) for a…
- gallant1490–Used (esp. in plural) as a respectful form of address: gentleman, fine fellow. archaic after 18th cent.
- fatherhead?a1500–58With possessive adjective, as your fatherhead. As a title of respect or respectful form of address for one's father or (in extended use) for a man…
- Mr?a1640–Without proper name. Used in direct speech as a form of polite address to a man, esp. one whose name is not known and who is regarded by the…
- gallantissimo1675–81A fine gentlemen; a gallant. Also as a form of address.
- mister1734–Used without proper name as a form of address to a man whose name is not known; = sir, n. (but usually less respectful than that title).
- massa1766–Master. Chiefly in representations of African American, Caribbean, and Australian Aboriginal speech. Also as a respectful form of address. Cf. Mas'… In later use typically highlighting offensive stereotypes or depictions of black people behaving in a servile manner, with reference to the era of slavery.
- sieur1772–Used as a courtesy title or form of address.
- stira1796–1816= sir, n. II.7a.
- master1798Used vocatively as a term of respect or politeness, or in substitution for the name of a man usually addressed as ‘master’. In singular. Sir, Mister.
- zurr1803–= sir, n.
- sieur1812–A respectful form of address or reference to a superior; master, ‘sir’.
- squire1828–As a term of polite address to a gentleman not formally a squire. More recently, a jocular or familiar address to another man, not necessarily of…
- guv'nor1843–A man in a position of authority or seniority; esp. a person's immediate superior; a boss. Also as a form of address. Cf. governor, n. 7.
- Mistah1853–Mister. Usually prefixed to a name.
- suh1860–= sir, n. II (in various senses). Often in representations of African American speech. Sometimes used to highlight offensive stereotypes or depictions of black people behaving in a servile manner (see e.g. quot. 1992 and cf. yassuh, adv.).
- Guv1866–= guv'nor, n. 2.
- sor1891–= sir, n. II.7a.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
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
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
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
- zur
Frequency
zurr typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zurr 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 of zurr, n., 1840–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1840 | 0.001 |
| 1850 | 0.0008 |
| 1860 | 0.0007 |
| 1870 | 0.0008 |
| 1880 | 0.0009 |
| 1890 | 0.0012 |
| 1900 | 0.0014 |
| 1910 | 0.0016 |
| 1920 | 0.0022 |
| 1930 | 0.0022 |
| 1940 | 0.0022 |
| 1950 | 0.0021 |
| 1960 | 0.0017 |
| 1970 | 0.0016 |
| 1980 | 0.0017 |
| 1990 | 0.0013 |
| 2000 | 0.0014 |
| 2010 | 0.0016 |