zephyrousadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zephyrous mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zephyrous. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zephyrous?
| 1850 | 0.0005 |
| 1860 | 0.0005 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0007 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0008 |
| 1910 | 0.0009 |
| 1920 | 0.001 |
| 1930 | 0.0009 |
| 1940 | 0.0009 |
| 1950 | 0.0007 |
| 1960 | 0.0007 |
| 1970 | 0.0006 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0004 |
| 2000 | 0.0004 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |
Where does the adjective zephyrous come from?
Earliest known use
mid 1700s
The earliest known use of the adjective zephyrous is in the mid 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zephyrous is from before 1750, in the writing of Aaron Hill, writer and entrepreneur.
Nearby entries
- zephyrean, adj.1793–
- zephyret, n.1777–1881
- zephyr flower, n.?1829–
- zephyr-gale, n.1596–1901
- zephyrian, adj.1661–
- zephyrine, adj. & n.1819–
- zephyring, adj.1821–
- zephyrless, adj.a1821–
- zephyr-like, adv. & adj.1765–
- zephyr lily, n.?1877–
- zephyrous, adj.a1750–
- zephyry, adj.1791–
- Zepp, n.1914–
- Zepp, v.1914–
- Zeppelin, n.1896–
- zeppelin, v.1910–
- Zeppelined, adj.1915–
- Zeppelining, n.1915–
- Zeppelinist, n.1912–
- Zeppelinistic, adj.1930–
- Zeppelinite, n.1909–
Meaning & use
- a1750–Of, relating to, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrean adj., zephyrian adj.Stressed as ˈzephyrous.
- a1750
Hither no winds, but zephyrous breaths repair.
A. Hill, Works (1753) vol. I. 345 - 1906
It was delicately tentative in tone; a zephyrous intimation, one might say, and hardly more.
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine June 696 - 2015
I climb..to the top to be rewarded with a stupendous view: sapphirine sea, gin-clear sky, beaming sun and my face kissed by a zephyrous breeze.
Sunday Times (Nexis) 24 (Travel section) 19
- lighta1398–Of wind, a breeze, etc.: gentle, not strong in force. Cf. moderate, adj. A.1b, strong, adj. 13a.
- plaina1425–35figurative. Of the wind: calm, gentle. Obsolete.
- small1542–Of a wind: light, slight, gentle.
- soft-footed1603–Having a soft or light tread. poetic. Used figuratively of the passage of time or the movement of incorporeal or ethereal things.
- supple1648–literary. Of a wind: blowing gently, light and soft.
- favonian1656–Of or pertaining to the west wind; hence, favourable, gentle, propitious.
- zephyrian1661–Of, relating to, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrean, adj.
- slack1670–Of wind, or tide: Blowing, or running, with very little strength or speed.
- zephyrousa1750–Of, relating to, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrean, adj., zephyrian, adj.
- zephyry1791–Of the nature of a zephyr or light breeze; characterized by or affected by zephyrs.
- zephyrean1793–Of the nature of, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrian, adj.
Frequency
zephyrous typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zephyrous 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 of zephyrous, adj., 1850–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 0.0005 |
| 1860 | 0.0005 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0007 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0008 |
| 1910 | 0.0009 |
| 1920 | 0.001 |
| 1930 | 0.0009 |
| 1940 | 0.0009 |
| 1950 | 0.0007 |
| 1960 | 0.0007 |
| 1970 | 0.0006 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0004 |
| 2000 | 0.0004 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |