zincy, adj.

zincy
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zincy_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zincyadjective

## Earlier version

- zinky, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zincy mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zincy. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the adjective zincy?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1750 | 0.023
1760 | 0.019
1770 | 0.016
1780 | 0.014
1790 | 0.0013
1800 | 0.0013
1810 | 0.0013
1820 | 0.0014
1830 | 0.0011
1840 | 0.0008
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0008
1870 | 0.0016
1880 | 0.0018
1890 | 0.0019
1900 | 0.0019
1910 | 0.0017
1920 | 0.0015
1930 | 0.0013
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.0001

### How is the adjective zincy pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪŋki/
ZING-kee

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɪŋki/
ZING-kee

### Where does the adjective zincy come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective zincy is in the mid 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zincy is from 1757, in Henckel's Pyritologia.

zincy is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zinc n., ‑y suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. zincoid, n. 1842–
2. zinc orange, n. 1918–
3. zincous, adj. 1842–
4. zinc-plate, n. 1823–
5. zinc-powder, n. 1881–
6. zinc roof, n. 1883–
7. zinc spar, n. 1796–
8. zinc-sponge, n. 1902–
9. zinc sulphide, n. 1851–
10. zinc white, n. 1847–
11. zincy, adj.1757–
12. zinc yellow, n. 1847–
13. zindabad, int. & n. 1930–
14. zindan, n. 1844–
15. Zindikite, n. 1694–
16. Zindiq, n. 1667–
17. zine, n. 1946–
18. zineb, n. 1950–
19. zines, int.?1701–10
20. zinester, n. 1986–
21. zinfandel, n. 1880–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
< zinc n. + ‑y suffix1.

## Meaning & use

1. 1757–
   Relating to or containing zinc; resembling or reminiscent of zinc.
   1. 1757

      > The ground-mixtion of this zinky [German zinckischen] matter.

      translation of J. F. Henckel, Pyritologia x. 176
   2. 1796

      > The Zincky ores [of lead] are said to be greyer than other Ores.

      R. Kirwan, Elements of Mineralogy (ed. 2) vol. II. 218
   3. 1859

      > It [sc. aluminium] may be seen pretty generally in jewellers' shops in ornaments of a zincy appearance.

      N. Wales Chron. 26 March
   4. 1913

      > As the mine development progresses the ore becomes more and more zincy.

      Mining & Sci. Press 10 May 684/2
   5. 2012

      > There is the taste [of oysters], of course—that briny, nectar, and zinky combination like no other.

      E. Probyn in G. Pratt & V. Rosner, Global & Intimate ii. 63
   chemistry minerals
   1. zincy 1757–
      Relating to or containing zinc; resembling or reminiscent of zinc.
   2. zinciferous 1820–
      Containing or producing zinc.
   3. zincic 1860–
      Of, pertaining to, or containing zinc. zincic oxide, oxide of zinc, regarded as the source of the compounds called zincates.
   4. zincian 1930–
      Of a mineral: having a (small) proportion of a constituent element replaced by zinc.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zincy 1757–
      Relating to or containing zinc; resembling or reminiscent of zinc.
   2. zincic 1860–
      Of, pertaining to, or containing zinc. zincic oxide, oxide of zinc, regarded as the source of the compounds called zincates.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪŋki/
ZING-kee

### U.S. English

/ˈzɪŋki/
ZING-kee

####

##### 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.

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

1. 1700s–
   zincky, zinky
2. 1800s–
   zincy

## Frequency

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

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

### Frequency of zincy, adj., 1750–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1750 | 0.023
1760 | 0.019
1770 | 0.016
1780 | 0.014
1790 | 0.0013
1800 | 0.0013
1810 | 0.0013
1820 | 0.0014
1830 | 0.0011
1840 | 0.0008
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0008
1870 | 0.0016
1880 | 0.0018
1890 | 0.0019
1900 | 0.0019
1910 | 0.0017
1920 | 0.0015
1930 | 0.0013
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.0001

zincy, adj. was revised in March 2021.

zincy, adj. was last modified in July 2023.