Partly shortened <Zend-Avestan. (probably with reinterpretation of the first element as attributive),and partly (in sense A.1b) directly <Persianzand commentary on the Avesta (see Zend-Avestan.…
Partly shortened <Zend-Avestan. (probably with reinterpretation of the first element as attributive),and partly (in sense A.1b) directly <Persianzand commentary on the Avesta (see Zend-Avestan.).
Notes
Compare post-classical LatinZend (uninflected) denoting the book (1700 in the work cited in quot. 1700 at sense A.1a; 1701 in liber Zend).
Compare also Frenchzend (noun) denoting the writings (1717 in le livre du Zend), denoting the language (1771 or earlier), (adjective) designating the language (1763).
Meaning & use
noun
1.a.
1700–
Frequently with the. The sacred writings of Zoroastrianism; the Avesta (Avestan.); formerly also in plural. Cf. Zend-Avestan. Now rare.
Avesta is now the usual term.
Recorded earliest in attributive use, in the sense ‘relating to or used in the Zend-Avesta’, with reference to the Avestan language (cf. sense A.2).
1700
Literæ..quæ..apud incolas vulgò audiunt Literæ Zundicæ, seu Character Zundicus, vel si Anglicè loquimur, the Zund Character.
T. Hyde, Historia Religionis Veterum Persarum xxvi. 338
1716
This book is called Zendavesta, and by contraction Zend, the vulgar pronounce it Zundavestow, and Zund.
H. Prideaux, Old & New Testament Connectedvol. I.iv. 176
1789
The Zends are much more modern than the Shastah.
D. Webb, translation of C. de Pauw, Select. Les Recherches Philosophiques 105
1790
Their sacred book, the Zend, which is said to have been written by their celebrated prophet Zerdusht.
W. Francklin, Observations Tour Bengal to Persia (ed. 2) 29
1857
It was a very ancient primary doctrine of the Magi..and may be found in the old Zends.
C. Kingsley, Letter 9 May in Letters & Mem. (1885) xii. 194
1892
He then returned from Ahuramazda with the Zend in one hand and the celestial fire in the other.
J. M. Roberts, Antiq. Unveiled (1894) 583
1998
The Parsees..called their canonical religious books the Zend, derived from the teachings of their founder Zarathustra, or Zoroaster.
P. A. Redpath, Masquerade of Dream Walkers vii. 195
Frequently in form zand. An exegesis, commentary, or translation of a passage from the Avesta (Avestan.) forming part of the canon of Zoroastrianism, written in Book Pahlavi, and appearing alongside the Avestan text in many manuscripts; (also) such interpretations considered collectively.
1856
Not the whole Avesta is thus accompanied by its Zend.
Journal of American Oriental Societyvol. 5 358
1867
The religious books, that is, the whole Avesta and Zand.
Journal Royal Asiatic Societyvol. 3 254
1928
Just as Zend is the ‘explanation’ of an Avestic text in Pahlawí, so is Pázend (= paiti-zainti) a ‘re-explanation’ of a Pahlawí text.
E. G. Browne, Literary History of Persiavol. 1 ii. 81
1984
Secondary to the Avesta were the translations from the sacred language with commentary. These were known as the Zand. The only surviving Zand is in Pahlavi.
J. R. Hinnells, Penguin Dictionary Religion 57/2
2015
Kartīr..did not imply that Mani and his followers produced their own Zand, in the sense of a Middle Persian translation and interpretation of the Avesta.
P. Dilley in I. Gardner et al., Mani at Court of Persian Kings v. 131
2.
1771–
The ancient Iranian language in which the Avesta (Avestan.) is written; = Avestann.
Avestan is now the more usual term.
1771
It [sc. a character] not a little resembles that..deduced from the Zend and Pazend.
An adherent of Zoroastrianism; a Zoroastrian. Chiefly in plural. Now rare.
1819
Their language..has great affinity to that of the Zends.
Weekly Entertainer 1 February 90
1888
The old burial places of the Chevsurs are the old ‘dakhme’ of the ‘Zends’ and their religious rites and moral precepts a direct reproduction of those contained in the Avesta.
Archaeol. Reviewvol. 1 331
1902
His [sc. Ahura's] physiognomy is not so distinctly limned in the Sanskrit literature as it is in the writings of the Zends.
Open Court March 167
1987
The sacred book of the Zends was searched and perished. And the language of the Zends..was handicapped by alien influences.
V. A. Rizvi, Eminent Muslim Scientists, Quaid & Poets 97
Of or relating to the Avestan language or to the Zend-Avesta; of or relating to Zoroastrianism; Zoroastrian. Also: designating the Avestan language, the Zend-Avesta, or the Zoroastrian religion.
1762
Nerengs..are written in modern Persic, with Zend characters.
Gentleman's Magazine September 426/1
1763
Indian and Persic versions of Zend originals..which serve as commentaries upon the Zend text.
Annual Register 1762 Antiquities 110/2
1838
The deeves of the Zend religion were the source of the Hebrew doctrine.
Foreign Quarterly Review October 108
1854
We may amicably close all controversy about ‘Media’ or ‘Bactria’, as the home of the Zend speech..and as the cradle of the Zend people.
Journal Ethnol. Societyvol. 3 224
1878
He was the first English scholar to master the original Zand texts.
G. Smith, Life of John Wilson vii. 213
1901
The Zend high-priest.
J. F. Hewitt, Hist. & Chronol. of Myth-Making Age iii. 124
1968
The Avesta is the book in the Zend language of Zoroaster.
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.
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.
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
1700s–1800s
Zund
1700s–
Zend
1800s–
Zand
Frequency
Zend typically occurs about 0.1 times per million words in modern written English.
Zend is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 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 Zend, n. & 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.