zombificationnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zombification mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zombification. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zombification?
| 2017 | 0.012 |
| 2018 | 0.014 |
| 2019 | 0.014 |
| 2020 | 0.012 |
| 2021 | 0.012 |
| 2022 | 0.012 |
| 2023 | 0.0098 |
| 2024 | 0.0088 |
How is the noun zombification pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zombification come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the noun zombification is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for zombification is from 1968, in Time.
zombification is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zombify v., ‑fication suffix.
Nearby entries
- Zollinger–Ellison syndrome, n.1956–
- Zöllner, n.1890–
- zollverein, n.1843–
- zolotnik, n.1783–
- zombie, n.1788–
- zombie apocalypse, n.1982–
- zombied, adj.1972–
- zombie-esque, adj.1946–
- zombie-like, adj. & adv.1932–
- zombie worm, n.2005–
- zombification, n.1968–
- zombified, adj.1965–
- zombify, v.1950–
- zombocalypse, n.2007–
- zomboid, adj.1963–
- zom-com, n.2004–
- zomotherapeutic, adj.1900–
- zomotherapy, n.1900–
- zona, n.1706–
- zona ignea, n.1818–
- zonal, adj.1867–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1968–The process of becoming a zombie. Chiefly in extended use (cf. zombie n. I.3a, zombify v.).
- 1968
The progress of the play is really the gradual zombification of Morley as physical debility betokens his psychic decay.
Time 29 March 91/2 - 1991
A recent investigation tried to explain zombification by modern pharmacology.
Journal of American Folklore vol. 104 467 - 1999
Half-a-dozen misfits and outsiders, who..manage to assert their individuality sufficiently to evade the zombification of their entire peer group.
Interzone June 36/2
the world physical sensation physical sensibility physical insensibility [nouns] rendering physically insensible- benumbing1552–A rendering torpid or inactive, benumbment.
- numbing1566–The process of making or becoming numb.
- stounding1637–Benumbing.
- benumbment1817–The action of benumbing; the fact or condition of being benumbed; torpor.
- toponarcosis1860–Local narcosis.
- insensibilization1897–The action of rendering or condition of being rendered insensible.
- zombification1968–The process of becoming a zombie. Chiefly in extended use (cf. zombie, n. I.3a, zombify, v.).
- deading1607The action of dead, v. (in various senses); dying, death; deadening. Also: an instance of this.
- stupefying1614–The action or process of stupefy, v. (in various senses); stupefaction; an instance of this.
- zombification1968–The process of becoming a zombie. Chiefly in extended use (cf. zombie, n. I.3a, zombify, v.).
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
- 1900s–zombiefication, zombification
Frequency
zombification typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zombification 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 zombification, n., 1960–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.0045 |
| 1970 | 0.006 |
| 1980 | 0.007 |
| 1990 | 0.007 |
| 2000 | 0.0084 |
| 2010 | 0.01 |
Frequency of zombification, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.012 |
| 2018 | 0.014 |
| 2019 | 0.014 |
| 2020 | 0.012 |
| 2021 | 0.012 |
| 2022 | 0.012 |
| 2023 | 0.0098 |
| 2024 | 0.0088 |