zemni, n.

zemni
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zemni_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zemninoun

## Earlier version

- zemni in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zemni mean?

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

### How common is the noun zemni?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1770 | 0.0059
1780 | 0.0047
1790 | 0.0041
1800 | 0.0038
1810 | 0.0033
1820 | 0.0025
1830 | 0.0009
1840 | 0.0008
1850 | 0.0008
1860 | 0.0007
1870 | 0.0004
1880 | 0.0002
1890 | 0.00008
1900 | 0.00008
1910 | 0.00001
1920 | 0
1930 | 0.000009
1940 | 0.00009
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.00009

### How is the noun zemni pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɛmni/
ZEM-nee

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɛmni/
ZEM-nee

### Where does the noun zemni come from?

Earliest known use

late 1700s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zemni is from around 1775–6, in a translation by William Kenrick, writer and translator, et al.

zemni is a borrowing from French.

Etymons: French zemni, ziemni.

### Nearby entries

1. zelkova, n. 1836–
2. zelotypia, n. 1566–
3. zelotyping, adj. a1660
4. zelotypist, n.?1632
5. zelotypy, n. 1623–1794
6. Zemblan, n. & adj. 1674–1805
7. Zemblian, n. & adj. 1674–1796
8. zemi, n. 1555–
9. zemiistic, adj. 1907–
10. zemirah, n. 1767–
11. zemni, n.1775–
12. Zemsky Sobor, n. 1877–
13. zemstvo, n. 1865–
14. zemstvoist, n. 1904–
15. Zen, n. & adj. 1727–
16. Zen, v. 1968–
17. zenana, n. & adj. 1761–
18. zenana cloth, n. 1885–
19. Zen Buddhist, adj. & n. 1917–
20. Zend, n. & adj. 1700–
21. zendaletto, n. 1789–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from French.
Etymons: French zemni, ziemni.
In α forms < French ziemni (1767 in the passage translated in quot. 1775–6) < Polish ziemny (in †piesek ziemny mole-rat < piesek little dog + ziemny (adjective) of earth).

In β forms < French zemni (1767 in the same…
In α forms < French ziemni (1767 in the passage translated in quot. 1775–6) < Polish ziemny (in †piesek ziemny mole-rat < piesek little dog + ziemny (adjective) of earth).

In β forms < French zemni (1767 in the same passage) < Ukrainian zemnyj (in †ščenjuk zemnyj mole-rat < ščenjuk puppy + zemnyj (adjective) of earth).

### Notes

Compare scientific Latin zemni specific name (1777, < French).

## Meaning & use

Now historical and rare.

1. 1775–
   Any of several blind mole-rats of the genus Spalax occurring in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. Also zemni-rat.
   1. 1775–6

      > There is another animal in Poland and Russia, which is called ziemni, or zemni [French un autre animal appelé ziemni ou zemni]; which is of the same race as the zisel, but larger, stronger, and more mischievous.

      W. Kenrick et al., translation of Comte de Buffon, Natural History of Animals, Vegetables, & Minerals vol. IV. 89
   2. 1839

      > Some..are devoid of the auricle, as the mole, the zemni-rat, the mole-rat.

      Todd's Cyclopædia of Anatomy & Physiology vol. II. 571/2
   3. 1940

      > Frederic Cuvier..referred to two kinds of Mole-Rats: the Zemmi (Spalax) and the Zocor (Siphneus or Myospalax), and joined the two in a single genus: Spalax.

      Bulletin Fan Memorial Inst. Biology Zool. Series September–October 168
   4. 1973

      > Coleridge is reading Cuvier's Lectures of Comparative Anatomy tr William Ross... The clue lies in the reference to the Zemni and the eel in the last paragraph.

      K. Coburn in S. T. Coleridge, Notebooks vol. III. (Notes) §4356
   animals historical
   1. zemni 1775–
      Any of several blind mole-rats of the genus Spalax occurring in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. Also zemni-rat.
   2. mole-rat 1781–
      Any of various short-legged herbivorous rodents somewhat resembling moles in appearance and having long protruding incisors used for burrowing; spec.…
   3. rat-mole 1827–75
      = mole-rat, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɛmni/
ZEM-nee

### U.S. English

/ˈzɛmni/
ZEM-nee

####

##### 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

##### α.

1. 1700s
   ziemni

##### β.

1. 1700s–
   zemni
2. 1800s–
   zemmi (irregular)

## Frequency

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

zemni 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 zemni, n., 1770–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1770 | 0.0059
1780 | 0.0047
1790 | 0.0041
1800 | 0.0038
1810 | 0.0033
1820 | 0.0025
1830 | 0.0009
1840 | 0.0008
1850 | 0.0008
1860 | 0.0007
1870 | 0.0004
1880 | 0.0002
1890 | 0.00008
1900 | 0.00008
1910 | 0.00001
1920 | 0
1930 | 0.000009
1940 | 0.00009
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.00009

zemni, n. was revised in June 2018.

zemni, n. was last modified in July 2023.