zindannoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zindan mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zindan. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zindan?
| 1850 | 0.0004 |
| 1860 | 0.0004 |
| 1870 | 0.0003 |
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0002 |
| 1900 | 0.0001 |
| 1910 | 0.0001 |
| 1920 | 0.0002 |
| 1930 | 0.0001 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0005 |
| 1980 | 0.0005 |
| 1990 | 0.0006 |
| 2000 | 0.0007 |
| 2010 | 0.0008 |
How is the noun zindan pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zindan come from?
Earliest known use
1840s
The earliest known use of the noun zindan is in the 1840s.
OED's earliest evidence for zindan is from 1844, in the Examiner.
zindan is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Persian. Probably also partly a borrowing from Turkish.
Etymons: Persian zindān; Ottoman Turkish zindān.
Nearby entries
- zinc-plate, n.1823–
- zinc-powder, n.1881–
- zinc roof, n.1883–
- zinc spar, n.1796–
- zinc-sponge, n.1902–
- zinc sulphide, n.1851–
- zinc white, n.1847–
- zincy, adj.1757–
- zinc yellow, n.1847–
- zindabad, int. & n.1930–
- zindan, n.1844–
- Zindikite, n.1694–
- Zindiq, n.1667–
- zine, n.1946–
- zineb, n.1950–
- zines, int.?1701–10
- zinester, n.1986–
- zinfandel, n.1880–
- zing, v.1899–
- zing, int. & n.1875–
- zingana, n.¹1883
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1844–In Turkey and central Asia: a place in which people are held captive; a prison, a dungeon.
- 1844
The Zindan, or Dungeon [in Bukhara], is to the east of the Ark, with two compartments: the Zindan-i-bala (the upper dungeon) and the Zindan-i-poin (the lower dungeon).
Examiner 28 December 820/1 - 1855
The filthy zindans of Turkey are not the places to force men into that we may have to do with them on friendly terms hereafter.
O. T. Parnauevel, Trip to Turkey 136 - 2004
In the mountains, hostages lived with their guards in special dugouts made in the woods. Balburov was kept in such a zindan for more than two months.
V. Tishkov, Chechnya viii. 122
- quarternOld English–1275A prison.
- prisona1200–With article or other designation. A building or other facility to which people are legally committed as punishment for a crime or while awaiting…
- lodgec1290–1704A place of confinement; a cell, prison.
- galleya1300–A low flat-built seagoing vessel with one deck, propelled by sails and oars, formerly in common use in the Mediterranean. Cf. galliass, n. The…
- jaila1300–A place or building used to imprison people accused or convicted of a crime or offence; a prison (now chiefly historical or archaic in British and Iri…
- chartrea1325–1484A prison.
- ward1338–†a. A prison (cf. sense I.3). Obsolete. b. Each of the divisions or separate departments of a prison.
- keepingc1384–1540Confinement, imprisonment; prison. Obsolete.
- prison-house1419–A building that is or serves as a prison. Frequently figurative.
- lying-house1423–1593(See quot. 1593).
- jailhouse1473–A building or structure where people are jailed; a jail or prison.
- tollbooth1488–A town prison, a jail.
- kidcotec1515–1886The name formerly given in various towns (as York, Lancaster, etc.) to the lock-up or prison.
- clinkc1530–The name of a noted prison in Southwark; later used elsewhere (esp. in Devon and Cornwall) for a small and dismal prison or prison-cell, a lock-up…
- warding-place1571–1752a. A place where guard is kept; b. Scottish a place of confinement for prisoners.
- the hangman's budget1589–1607the hangman's budget. Obsolete.
- Newgate1592–1669Any prison. Also: a situation likened to Newgate prison, as by being restrictive, confining, etc. Obsolete.
- gehenna1594–transferred. A place of torture; a prison.
- Lob's pound1597–Prison; jail; the lock-up. Also figurative, an entanglement, difficulty.
- caperdewsie1599–1664The stocks; prison.
- footman's inn1604–31Jail, prison.
- cappadochio1607‘A cant name for prison’ (Nares); perhaps rather, the stocks.
- pena1640–A place in which a person or persons may be confined; spec. (originally U.S.) a prison cell, a prison.
- marshalsea1652–Used esp. as the name of certain other prisons; gen. a prison.
- log-house1662–A house built of logs; in early use (U.S.) applied to a prison; also attributive in log-house quilting (see quot.).
- bastille1663–In extended use: any prison. Also figurative and in figurative contexts.
- naskin1673–1704A prison. Cf. nask, n.
- state prison1684–a. A prison managed by the State; (in early use) spec. †one in which political offenders are held (obsolete); b. a prison managed by the state (state…
- tronk1693–A prison.
- stone-doublet1694–1775A prison.
- iron or stone doublet1698–1720iron or stone doublet: a prison. Obsolete slang.
- blockhouse1699–slang. Usually with the: prison. Now only in historical contexts.
- college1699–slang. A prison. (figurative from 7.)
- nask1699–1881A prison. Cf. naskin, n.
- quod1699–Prison, the state of imprisonment; (also) †a prison. Frequently in in quod.
- shop1699–1921slang. A prison. Obsolete.
- black hole1707–gen. A place of confinement as punishment.
- start1735–1830British slang (originally cant). Originally: (a nickname for) Newgate prison in London. Later sometimes more generally: any prison. Obsolete.
- state's prison1780–A prison run by the state (state, n. III.29a) in which it is located; = state prison n. (b) at compounds (b).
- coop1785–slang. A prison.
- stone jug1796–slang. A nickname for Newgate prison, or for a prison in general.
- calaboose1797–The name, in New Orleans and adjacent parts of the U.S., for a common prison.
- factory1806–Australian slang. A prison or detention centre for women, esp. that at Parramatta, New South Wales, where cloth was manufactured by inmates. Also…
- bull-pen1809–A pen or enclosure for bulls; spec. a square enclosure made of logs, frequently used in early times as a place of confinement; hence, a lock-up or…
- steel1811–(See quots.)
- jigger1812–A prison or cell.
- jug1815–slang. A prison, jail; more fully stone jug, n. 2. Originally U.S.
- kitty1825–A prison, jail, or lock-up; a house of correction.
- chokey1829–Originally and chiefly Australian: a jail, a police lock-up (cf. chowki, n. 1b). Also Nautical: a place of confinement for prisoners on board ship…
- rock pile1830–A heap of stones; frequently with allusion to the convict's task of breaking stones. Hence (U.S. slang): a jail or prison; (humorously) any place in…
- chokey1833–Prison, jail (also occasionally with the). Also: the state of imprisonment.
- bughouse1842–A place for the confinement of prisoners; a jail. Now rare (in later use U.S. regional).
- zindan1844–In Turkey and central Asia: a place in which people are held captive; a prison, a dungeon.
- model1845–colloquial. Chiefly Australian. Short for model prison, n. Also: time served in a model prison; esp. in to do model.
- black house1846–48slang. A prison. Obsolete. rare.
- tench1850–A house of detention; a penitentiary.
- mill1851–slang. A prison, a guardhouse. Now rare.
- stir1851–A prison. Also without article, esp. in in stir.
- hoppet1855–A jail or prison.
- booby hatch1859–slang (originally U.S.). A place of incarceration; a lock-up; a prison. Cf. booby, n.¹ 5, booby-hutch, n. 4a. Now rare (chiefly historical).
- caboose1865–= calaboose, n. slang (originally U.S.).
- cooler1872–slang (originally U.S.). A prison, a jail. Also: a prison cell.
- skookum house1873–A jail.
- gib1877–A prison.
- nick1882–slang (originally Australian). A prison; a lock-up, esp. one at a police station. Also: a police station.
- hoosegow1883–A jail or prison; a courthouse.
- choker1884–slang. = chowki, n. 1b: the lock-up, prison.
- logs1888–plural. Australian slang. A jail or lock-up. (Formerly built of logs. Cf. log-house, n.)
- booby house1894–U.S. slang. A place of incarceration; a lock-up; a prison. Cf. booby hatch, n. 2a and booby-hutch, n. 4a. Now rare.
- big house1905–slang. Originally U.S. Prison.
- can1912–slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). Chiefly with the: a prison, a jail; a cell in a police station. Also: imprisonment, time spent in prison.
- detention camp1916–In the war of 1914–18, a camp in which aliens and others were kept under restraint; also applied to other places of incarceration.
- pokey1919–Chiefly with the. Prison, jail.
- slammer1952–Prison, jail. Usually with the: occasionally the slammers. Cf. slam, n.¹ 4 slang (originally U.S.).
- joint1953–Prison. U.S. slang.
- slam1960–= slammer, n.¹ 3. Usually with the. Chiefly U.S. slang.
- tjoekie1977–Prison, jail (also occasionally with the). Cf. chokey, n.
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
Frequency
zindan typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zindan 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 zindan, n., 1850–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 0.0004 |
| 1860 | 0.0004 |
| 1870 | 0.0003 |
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0002 |
| 1900 | 0.0001 |
| 1910 | 0.0001 |
| 1920 | 0.0002 |
| 1930 | 0.0001 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0005 |
| 1980 | 0.0005 |
| 1990 | 0.0006 |
| 2000 | 0.0007 |
| 2010 | 0.0008 |