zilla, n.

zilla
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zilla_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zillanoun

## Earlier version

- zillah in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zilla mean?

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

### How common is the noun zilla?

About 0.04occurrences per million words in modern written English

1780 | 0.001
1790 | 0.0036
1800 | 0.0034
1810 | 0.0034
1820 | 0.0033
1830 | 0.0042
1840 | 0.0069
1850 | 0.0075
1860 | 0.0063
1870 | 0.0069
1880 | 0.0081
1890 | 0.0086
1900 | 0.0079
1910 | 0.0057
1920 | 0.0065
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.024
1950 | 0.027
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.036
1980 | 0.041
1990 | 0.046
2000 | 0.046
2010 | 0.036

### How is the noun zilla pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪlə/
ZIL-uh

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɪlə/
ZIL-uh

### Where does the noun zilla come from?

Earliest known use

late 1700s

The earliest known use of the noun zilla is in the late 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zilla is from 1772, in Extract Proc. Comm. of Circuit.

zilla is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Urdu. Partly a borrowing from Persian.

Etymons: Urdu żilaʿ; Persian żilaʿ.

### Nearby entries

1. zigzaggery, n. 1761–
2. zigzaggy, adj. a1845–
3. zigzag machine, n. 1952–
4. zigzag trefoil, n. 1796–
5. zig-zig, n. 1918–
6. Zika, n. 1952–
7. Zilavka, n. 1926–
8. zilch, n. & adj. 1925–
9. zilch, v. 1957–
10. zill, n. 1754–
11. zilla, n.1772–
12. -zilla, comb. form
13. zilladar, n. 1763–
14. Zil lane, n. 1985–
15. zilla parishad, n. 1957–
16. zillion, n. & adj. 1920–
17. zillionaire, n. 1926–
18. zillionth, n. & adj. 1940–
19. zimb, n. 1790–
20. Zimba, n. 1625–
21. Zimbabwe, n. 1891–

## Etymology

### Summary

Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Urdu. Partly a borrowing from Persian.
Etymons: Urdu żilaʿ; Persian żilaʿ.
< (i) Urdu żilaʿ part, district, division,

and its etymon (ii) Indian Persian żilaʿ, in the same senses, specific use of Persian żilaʿ rib, side < Arabic ḍilaʿ rib, (in extended use) side of a triangle.

…
< (i) Urdu żilaʿ part, district, division,

and its etymon (ii) Indian Persian żilaʿ, in the same senses, specific use of Persian żilaʿ rib, side < Arabic ḍilaʿ rib, (in extended use) side of a triangle.

Compare slightly earlier zilladar n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1772–
   In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh: an administrative district forming a subdivision of a province, state, or division.
   1. 1772

      > The future management of the Huzzoor Zillas. [Note] Small districts near Moorshedabad.

      Extract Proc. Comm. of Circuit 20 August in 5th Rep. Comm. Secrecy State E. India Company (1773) 20
   2. 1801

      > Within the zilla, or district of Calcutta.

      Asiatic Annual Register 1800 Characters 24
   3. 1886

      > In Panch Maháls in the town of Dohad the fever death-rate is higher than in the zilla.

      22nd Annual Rep. Sanitary Commissioner of Bombay 1885 81
   4. 1963

      > The disintegration of the States into Zillas and the formation of an uniform country through interconnection of Zilla Parishads seems impractical.

      Modern Review (India) February 109/1
   5. 2004

      > When interviewed, my own respondents identified primarily with their zillah when questioned about their origin.

      Journal Southeast Asian Studies vol. 35 6
   6. 2009

      > To make International Inspiration a total success, such initiatives should also be taken to the zilas, district towns and thanas.

      Dhaka Courier (Nexis) 29 October
   1. pargana 1614–
      In India: an administrative district, comprising a number of villages; a subdivision of a zilla.
   2. sirkar 1627–
      A province; a revenue division. Cf. circar, n.
   3. zilla 1772–
      In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh: an administrative district forming a subdivision of a province, state, or division.
   4. district 1776–
      spec. In British India: a division or subdivision of a province or presidency, constituting the most important unit of civil administration, having…
   5. mahal 1793–1885
      In South Asia: a territorial division; a division of an estate or tract of land forming a unit let out for farming or hunting purposes. Also: a ward…
   6. taluk 1793–
      originally. A hereditary estate belonging to a local proprietor; also, more usually, a subdivision of a zillah or district, comprising a number…
   7. mohalla 1825–
      Chiefly in South Asia: a neighbourhood or municipal ward, frequently one inhabited by a particular social group. Cf. mahal, n. 3.
   8. Union Territory 1947–
      Any of several territories of India that are administered by the central government.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪlə/
ZIL-uh

### U.S. English

/ˈzɪlə/
ZIL-uh

####

##### 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
   zelah, zilah
2. 1700s–
   zilla, zillah
3. 1900s–
   zila

## Frequency

zilla typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.

zilla 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 zilla, n., 1780–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1780 | 0.001
1790 | 0.0036
1800 | 0.0034
1810 | 0.0034
1820 | 0.0033
1830 | 0.0042
1840 | 0.0069
1850 | 0.0075
1860 | 0.0063
1870 | 0.0069
1880 | 0.0081
1890 | 0.0086
1900 | 0.0079
1910 | 0.0057
1920 | 0.0065
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.024
1950 | 0.027
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.036
1980 | 0.041
1990 | 0.046
2000 | 0.046
2010 | 0.036

### Frequency of zilla, 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 | 0.11
2018 | 0.11
2019 | 0.11
2020 | 0.11
2021 | 0.1
2022 | 0.095
2023 | 0.096
2024 | 0.088

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zilla parishad, n. 1957–
   (In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh) a body…

1. C.1.
   1795–
   General use as a modifier, as in zilla court, zilla election, zilla school, etc.
   1. 1795

      > Matthew Leslie, Judge of the Zillah Court of Rungpore.

      Bengal or East-India Cal. 7
   2. 1814

      > Punishments..executed..by the Zillah judge.

      B. Heyne, Tracts on India 323
   3. 1854

      > Ahmedabad, 300 miles from Bombay, is a zillah station.

      J. H. Stocqueler, Hand-book of British India (ed. 3) 340
   4. 1908

      > The construction of a new building for the Zilla School at Chaibassa has..been sanctioned by the Government of Bengal.

      Indian Engin. 16 May 313/2
   5. 2015

      > The government had written to the SEC asking for postponement of the zilla elections.

      Times of India (Nexis) 30 January
2. C.2.
   1. zilla parishad, n. 1957–
      (In South Asia, esp. India and Bangladesh) a body…

zilla, n. was revised in March 2021.

zilla, n. was last modified in December 2024.