Zakka Khel, n.

zakka-khel
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zakka-khel_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1993; not fully revised

# Zakka Khelnoun (& adjective)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zakka Khel mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.011
1880 | 0.013
1890 | 0.013
1900 | 0.014
1910 | 0.014
1920 | 0.015
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.01
1950 | 0.0072
1960 | 0.0053
1970 | 0.0034
1980 | 0.0032
1990 | 0.0031
2000 | 0.0025
2010 | 0.0019

### How is the noun Zakka Khel pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzʌkə xeɪl/

### Where does the noun Zakka Khel come from?

Earliest known use

1860s

The earliest known use of the noun Zakka Khel is in the 1860s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zakka Khel is from 1860, in the writing of H. B. Lumsden.

Zakka Khel is perhaps a borrowing from Pashto.

Etymons: Pashto Zakka Ḵēl.

### Nearby entries

1. zaibatsu, n. 1937–
2. Zaidi, n. 1709–
3. zaikai, n. 1968–
4. zaim, n. 1807–
5. zaire, n. 1967–
6. Zairean, n. & adj. 1972–
7. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
8. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
9. zaitech, n. 1986–
10. zakat, n. 1668–
11. Zakka Khel, n.1860–
12. zakuska, n. 1885–
13. zalambdodont, adj. 1885–
14. zalcitabine, n. 1991–
15. zamacueca, n. 1855–
16. Zamak, n. 1926–
17. zamang, n. 1819–
18. zamarra, n. 1841–
19. zama zama, n. 2006–
20. Zamazim, n. a1400–
21. Zambian, adj. & n. 1959–

## Etymology

### Summary

Perhaps a borrowing from Pashto.
Etymon: Pashto Zakka Ḵēl.
< Zakka Ḵēl, the name in a language of Central Asia < Zakka possibly of Pashto or Tirāhī origin, + Pashto khel clan (< Persian, ultimately < Arabic ḵeyl (collective noun) horse, troop of horsemen. In…
< Zakka Ḵēl, the name in a language of Central Asia < Zakka possibly of Pashto or Tirāhī origin, + Pashto khel clan (< Persian, ultimately < Arabic ḵeyl (collective noun) horse, troop of horsemen. In Persian the word developed the additional senses ‘group of people’, ‘tribe’.

## Meaning & use

1. 1860–
   (A member of) a nomadic Afridi clan inhabiting parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan from the slopes of the Safīd Kūh to the border of Peshawar. Also attributive or as adj.
   1. 1860

      > The Zakkakhel Afridies do not consider a child properly baptised unless he has been passed backwards and forwards through a hole in a wall, with an exhortation to become an expert thief, at the same time that he receives his name.

      H. B. Lumsden, Mission to Kandahar 68
   2. 1888

      > A thief of the Zukka Kheyl.

      R. Kipling, Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 127
   3. 1898

      > The Afridis with the exception of the Zakka Khel section have almost paid their fine in rifles.

      W. S. Churchill, Letter 27 March in R. S. Churchill, Winston S. Churchill (1967) vol. I. Companion ii. 901
   4. 1932

      > The Khyber was constantly raided by Zakka Khels and Mohmands.

      C. C. Davies in Cambridge Hist. India vol. VI. xxv. 462
   5. 1962

      > In the spring and summer of 1857 the..Zakka Khel Afridis made a series of raids upon British-administered territory around Peshawar.

      J. W. Spain, Way of Pathans iii. 32
   6. 1985

      > In the Zakka Khel campaign of 1908, all the Zakka Khel in the Khyber Rifles were paraded by the Political Agent.

      C. C. Trench, Frontier Scouts ii. 12
   1. Afghan 1625–
      a. A Pashtun, in later use esp. one from Afghanistan. b. More generally: a native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; a person of Afghani descent. Cf. Af…
   2. Pathan 1625–
      In India and Pakistan: a member of a Pashto-speaking people inhabiting parts of south-east Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan. Cf. Pakhtun, n., Pa…
   3. Afridi 1784–
      A member of a Pashto-speaking people inhabiting the mountainous region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
   4. Hazara 1801–
      A member of a people of Mongolian descent inhabiting the mountainous region of central Afghanistan and parts of northern Iran and Pakistan.
   5. Hindki 1815–
      A person of Indian descent living in Afghanistan or northern Pakistan; spec. a Hindu of the Khatri caste (cf. Khatri, n. 1).
   6. Mohmand 1815–
      A member of a Pathan people partly inhabiting the mountainous region of Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan to the north of the Khyber Pass, and partly…
   7. Tajik 1815–
      A people of Iranian descent inhabiting Afghanistan and the Turkistan region of central Asia; now also spec. a native or inhabitant of Tajikistan.
   8. Ghilzai 1826–
      The name of one of the most famous of the tribes of Afghanistan. Also attributive.
   9. Turkistani 1826–
      A native or inhabitant of the historic region of Turkistan in central Asia (now corresponding to parts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan…
   10. Kaffir 1834–
       Since the mid 20th cent. Kaffir has been considered extremely offensive and is now widely avoided, esp. in South Africa, where its usage is categorized as crimen injuria (crimen injuria, n.) and is thus legally actionable. Usually in form Kafir. A member of a non-Islamic people inhabiting part of the Hindu Kush area of north-eastern Afghanistan. Now historical.
   11. Powindah 1851–
       A member of a nomadic trading people of Afghanistan.
   12. Sart 1871–
       A member of a settled people of mixed Turkoman and Iranian descent, living as town-dwellers and traders in Turkestan and parts of Afghanistan. Cf… The name is widely used, with varying degrees of exactness, to designate the sedentary people of this region. They are thus contrasted with the Kurds and others, by whom the term is considered derogatory. Other commentators view the Sarts as an ethnologically distinct people.
   13. Shinwari 1875–
       (A member of) a nomadic people inhabiting areas of Afghanistan around the Khyber Pass. Also attributive.
   14. Pakhtun 1880–
       A member of a people inhabiting parts of south-eastern Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan; = Pathan, adj. Cf. Pashtun, n. A.1.
   15. Zakka Khel 1888–
       (A member of) a nomadic Afridi clan inhabiting parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan from the slopes of the Safīd Kūh to the border of Peshawar. Also…
   16. Afghani 1966–
       A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan. Cf. Afghan, n. A.1.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzʌkə xeɪl/

####

##### 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

Also Zaka Khel, Zukka Kheyl, etc., and as one word.

## Frequency

Zakka Khel typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

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

### Frequency of Zakka Khel, n., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.011
1880 | 0.013
1890 | 0.013
1900 | 0.014
1910 | 0.014
1920 | 0.015
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.01
1950 | 0.0072
1960 | 0.0053
1970 | 0.0034
1980 | 0.0032
1990 | 0.0031
2000 | 0.0025
2010 | 0.0019

Zakka Khel, n. was first published in 1993; not fully revised.

Zakka Khel, n. was last modified in December 2024.