zadruga, n.

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

# zadruganoun

## Earlier version

- zadruga in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zadruga mean?

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

About 0.05occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.011
1890 | 0.012
1900 | 0.015
1910 | 0.021
1920 | 0.033
1930 | 0.045
1940 | 0.056
1950 | 0.064
1960 | 0.066
1970 | 0.066
1980 | 0.062
1990 | 0.056
2000 | 0.048
2010 | 0.039

### How is the noun zadruga pronounced?

#### British English

/zəˈdruːɡə/

### Where does the noun zadruga come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the noun zadruga is in the 1880s.

OED's earliest evidence for zadruga is from 1887, in Encyclopædia Britannica.

zadruga is a borrowing from Croatian.

### Nearby entries

1. zaatar, n. 1917–
2. zabaglione, n. 1899–
3. zabernism, n. 1916–21
4. zabernize, v. 1914
5. zabra, n. 1523–
6. zabuton, n. 1879–
7. zac, n. 1898–
8. 'zackly | 'zactly, adv. 1886–
9. zad, n. 1669–
10. Zadokite, n. & adj. 1910–
11. zadruga, n.1887–
12. zaffre | zaffer, n. 1662–
13. zaftig, adj. 1921–
14. zafu, n. 1965–
15. zag, n., adv., & v. 1793–
16. zagaie | zagaye, n. 1590–1698
17. Zaghlulist, n. & adj. 1921–
18. zaguan, n. 1851–
19. Zahal, n. 1959–
20. zaibatsu, n. 1937–
21. Zaidi, n. 1709–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Croatian.
Croatian, = patriarchal commune, association.

## Meaning & use

1. 1887–
   A type of patriarchal social unit traditional to (agricultural) Serbians and other southern Slavic peoples, originally comprising an extended family group which worked the land and lived communally round the main house; the customs and rules associated with this type of unit.
   1. 1887

      > The Slavs know nothing of private property,—the land being held in common under the care of the vladika or stareshina, as in the Servian xadrugas at the present day.

      Encyclopædia Britannica vol. XXII. 146/2
   2. 1900

      > The old system of Zadruga, or communal village based upon the family.

      ‘Odysseus’, Turkey in Europe viii. 375
   3. 1911

      > The basis of the Serb organisation is the family, either in its narrowest sense of blood-relationship, in communistic organisation, or other individuals grouped together for common work and with common possessions. These forms are called ‘Zadruga’.

      Prince Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich, Servian People i. 39
   4. 1934

      > Zadruga in Serbia means a big family where brothers and sisters..lead a community life, under the leadership usually of the eldest member of the family.

      New York Times 24 June iv. 3/4
   5. 1943

      > From their Russian homeland the Slavs brought a democratic institution called zadruga, a clan or family cooperative, which some of the tribes tried to extend and adjust to the wider forms of government necessary in their new homelands.

      L. Adamic, My Native Land (ed. 3) 214
   6. 1943

      > They lived in their primitive villages and held onto their Old-Slavic zadrugé and ‘heart culture’—decency, friendliness, hospitality.

      L. Adamic, My Native Land (ed. 3) 216
   7. 1963

      > The dvor or peasant household..is the same elastic unit which was familiar in medieval Europe, and survives today in the zadruge of the Balkans.

      Times Literary Supplement 25 January 49/3
   8. 1979

      > The old customary Slavonic ‘family’ law, the zadruga.

      International Journal Sociol. of Law vol. 7 270
   9. 1980

      > People tended to live in large, multi~generational households,..from the ‘joint family’ in India to the ‘zadruga’ in the Balkans.

      A. Toffler, Third Wave ii. 44
   1. dharma 1785–
      In various religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions originating in India: the eternal law of the cosmos, inherent in the very nature of…
   2. dhamma 1837–
      Esp. in Theravada Buddhism: universal truth or law, esp. as proclaimed by the Buddha; Buddhist teaching. Cf. Buddha dhamma, n. 2, dharma, n. 1b.
   3. Arthurianism 1854–
      The beliefs or doctrine based on the practices and outlook of the legendary King Arthur and his knights.
   4. colonialism 1855–66
      A custom or practise characteristic of or peculiar to a colony. Obsolete. rare.
   5. tikanga Māori 1865–
      The body of customs, norms, values, or principles regulating the behaviour and practices of Māori people.
   6. zadruga 1887–
      A type of patriarchal social unit traditional to (agricultural) Serbians and other southern Slavic peoples, originally comprising an extended…
   7. mat 1905–
      New Zealand. Any of various outer garments worn by Māori, originally made of a woven material resembling matting; a Māori cloak or cape. Also used…
   8. outbackery 1961–
      The (cultivation of) attitudes, values, and culture supposedly characteristic of inhabitants of the Australian outback.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. Indianism 1672–
      The culture, institutions, or ideals of India (†formerly also spec. of British India); attachment or allegiance to these.
   2. Gaeldom 1860–
      The Gaelic-speaking world or Gaelic culture.
   3. zadruga 1887–
      A type of patriarchal social unit traditional to (agricultural) Serbians and other southern Slavic peoples, originally comprising an extended…
   4. Hellenisticism 1897–
      Hellenistic culture or principles; the Hellenistic period.
   5. Plains culture 1906–
      The culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains.
   6. Nazca 1917–
      Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology. The Nazca culture; the period in which that culture flourished.
   7. Amratian 1928–
      The Amratian phase of the Naqada period of predynastic culture in Egypt (see sense A).
   8. Ibero-Maurusian 1934–
      With the. The culture of this people, esp. their stone tool industry, characterized by its small-backed blades, dating from &c.14,000 to…
   9. Oranian 1934–
      = Ibero-Maurusian, adj. & n.
   10. Levantinism 1949–
       The spirit or culture of the Levant.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəˈdruːɡə/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Plural zadrugas, zadruge. Also with capital initial.

## Frequency

zadruga typically occurs about 0.05 times per million words in modern written English.

zadruga 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 zadruga, n., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.011
1890 | 0.012
1900 | 0.015
1910 | 0.021
1920 | 0.033
1930 | 0.045
1940 | 0.056
1950 | 0.064
1960 | 0.066
1970 | 0.066
1980 | 0.062
1990 | 0.056
2000 | 0.048
2010 | 0.039

zadruga, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zadruga, n. was last modified in December 2024.