zinanoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zina mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zina. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zina?
| 1810 | 0.0063 |
| 1820 | 0.0054 |
| 1830 | 0.0049 |
| 1840 | 0.0051 |
| 1850 | 0.0057 |
| 1860 | 0.0041 |
| 1870 | 0.005 |
| 1880 | 0.0054 |
| 1890 | 0.0054 |
| 1900 | 0.0061 |
| 1910 | 0.0058 |
| 1920 | 0.0061 |
| 1930 | 0.0066 |
| 1940 | 0.008 |
| 1950 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 0.016 |
| 1970 | 0.025 |
| 1980 | 0.034 |
| 1990 | 0.038 |
| 2000 | 0.044 |
| 2010 | 0.051 |
How is the noun zina pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zina come from?
Earliest known use
1810s
The earliest known use of the noun zina is in the 1810s.
OED's earliest evidence for zina is from 1817, in Papers relating to E. India Affairs: Regulations Govts. Bengal, Fort St. George, & Bombay.
zina is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Persian. Partly a borrowing from Arabic.
Etymons: Persian zinā', Arabic zinā'.
Nearby entries
- zillion, n. & adj.1920–
- zillionaire, n.1926–
- zillionth, n. & adj.1940–
- zimb, n.1790–
- Zimba, n.1625–
- Zimbabwe, n.1891–
- Zimbabwean, adj. & n.1961–
- zimbel, n.1888–
- zimme, n.1848–63
- Zimmer, n.1951–
- zina, n.1817–
- zinc, n.1651–
- zinc, v.1843–
- zinc-air, adj.1970–
- Zincala, n.1844–91
- Zincalo, n.1841–
- zinc-alum, n.1851–
- zinc-amide, n.1859–
- zincate, n.1872–
- zinc-blende, n.1842–
- zinc-bloom, n.1842–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1817–Any form of sexual intercourse which is prohibited under Islamic law, esp. that between two people who are not legal spouses; adultery, fornication.
- 1817
The Mahomedan law of evidence, in some cases (especially in those of Zina, including adultery, rape and incest,) is such as to render a legal conviction almost impossible.
in Papers relating to E. India Affairs: Regulations Govts. Bengal, Fort St. George, & Bombay (1819) xvii. 25 in Parliamentary Papers (H.C. 583) vol. XIII. 347 - 1865
Such an one committed zina with thee, and this child is the fruit.
N. B. E. Baillie, Digest Moohummudan Law v. iii. 413 - 1939
One of the undertakings of the covenant between Mohammad and women of the Islamic community was that they should not commit zina.
G. H. Stern in M. Amin, Wisdom of Prophet Muhammad (1945) 45 - 1984
You would like to take me to bed and make zina, would you not?
G. Jennings, Journeyer (1988) 204 - 2017
A Muslim is not to long for the things that lead to zina, such as kissing, being alone, and touching.
S. K. Ali, Saints & Misfits 107
the world physical sensation sexual relations sexual relationship [nouns] sexual relationship outside marriage adultery- eaubrucheOld English–1225Adultery.
- mid-lyinga1200Adultery.
- spousebriche?c1225–1500Adultery; = spousebreach, n.¹ Cf. eaubruche, n.¹
- spousebreachc1275–Adultery; (occasionally also) an adulterous act. Now rare (archaic and literary in later use).
- adulterya1325–Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and another who is not his or her spouse, regarded as a violation of the marriage vows and…
- whore-playa1325Adultery, fornication.
- spouse-break1357–1425Adultery; = spousebreach, n.¹
- devoutrie1377–For advoutrie, adultery, n.
- voutrya1382–1500Adultery.
- spouse-breakinga1398–Adultery; = spousebreach, n.¹
- vowtrec1425Adultery.
- vowtryc1450Adultery.
- breach of matrimony1526–69to break matrimony: to commit adultery. Similarly breach of matrimony. Obsolete.
- wed-breach1638Breach of covenant (Old English), adultery.
- mechation1656Adultery.
- Unfaithfulness or disloyalty to a person, e.g. to a sovereign, lord, master, friend, lover; esp., in modern use, to a husband or wife, called more…
- zina1817–Any form of sexual intercourse which is prohibited under Islamic law, esp. that between two people who are not legal spouses; adultery, fornication.
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
- 1800s–zina
- 1900s–zeenah, zinah
- 2000s–zeena
Frequency
zina typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.
zina 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 of zina, n., 1810–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1810 | 0.0063 |
| 1820 | 0.0054 |
| 1830 | 0.0049 |
| 1840 | 0.0051 |
| 1850 | 0.0057 |
| 1860 | 0.0041 |
| 1870 | 0.005 |
| 1880 | 0.0054 |
| 1890 | 0.0054 |
| 1900 | 0.0061 |
| 1910 | 0.0058 |
| 1920 | 0.0061 |
| 1930 | 0.0066 |
| 1940 | 0.008 |
| 1950 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 0.016 |
| 1970 | 0.025 |
| 1980 | 0.034 |
| 1990 | 0.038 |
| 2000 | 0.044 |
| 2010 | 0.051 |
Frequency of zina, 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 | 0.016 |
| 2018 | 0.014 |
| 2019 | 0.012 |
| 2020 | 0.0095 |
| 2021 | 0.0069 |
| 2022 | 0.0048 |
| 2023 | 0.0042 |
| 2024 | 0.0034 |