zigzaggy, adj.

zigzaggy
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zigzaggy_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zigzaggyadjective

## Earlier version

- zigzaggy, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zigzaggy mean?

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

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the adjective zigzaggy?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.0014
1850 | 0.0013
1860 | 0.0015
1870 | 0.0016
1880 | 0.0018
1890 | 0.002
1900 | 0.0022
1910 | 0.0021
1920 | 0.0023
1930 | 0.0022
1940 | 0.002
1950 | 0.002
1960 | 0.002
1970 | 0.0019
1980 | 0.0021
1990 | 0.002
2000 | 0.0021
2010 | 0.0024

### How is the adjective zigzaggy pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪɡzaɡi/

### Where does the adjective zigzaggy come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the adjective zigzaggy is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zigzaggy is from before 1845, in the writing of Richard Barham, writer and Church of England clergyman.

zigzaggy is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zigzag n., ‑y suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. zig, v. 1969–
2. Zigeuner, n. & adj. 1802–
3. Zigeunerin, n. 1845–83
4. ziggety, int., adj., & adv. 1924–
5. ziggurat, n. 1873–
6. zigzag, n., adj., & adv. 1712–
7. zigzag, v. 1777–
8. zigzag connection, n. 1922–
9. zigzagged, adj. 1774–
10. zigzaggery, n. 1761–
11. zigzaggy, adj.a1845–
12. zigzag machine, n. 1952–
13. zigzag trefoil, n. 1796–
14. zig-zig, n. 1918–
15. Zika, n. 1952–
16. Zilavka, n. 1926–
17. zilch, n. & adj. 1925–
18. zilch, v. 1957–
19. zill, n. 1754–
20. zilla, n. 1772–
21. -zilla, comb. form

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
< zigzag n. + ‑y suffix1.

## Meaning & use

1. a1845–
   Characterized by zigzags or short sharp turns at alternate angles.
   1. a1845

      > The zig-zaggy pattern by Saxons invented.

      R. H. Barham, Blasphemer's Warning in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Series 237
   2. 1865

      > We rambled in and out of strange zig~zaggy back ways.

      W. White, Eastern England vol. I. x. 135
   3. 1902

      > A fortification in a sketch of the style of Vauban, a zig~zaggy, forked-lightning affair.

      A. Lang in Longman's Magazine September 481
   1. indented a1616–
      Having a serrated or zigzag figure, direction, or course, as a line, wall, moulding, path, etc.; constructed with salient and re-entrant angles…
   2. zigzag 1752–
      Having the form of a zigzag; turning sharply at angles in alternate directions; characterized by turns of this kind.
   3. zigzagged 1774–
      Having a zigzag form or marking.
   4. zigzaggy a1845–
      Characterized by zigzags or short sharp turns at alternate angles.
   5. zigzag-shaped 1846–
      zigzag-shaped adj.; zigzag fashion, zigzag-wise quasi-adverbs.
   6. chevrony 1887–
      gen. Formed of chevrons, zigzag.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪɡzaɡi/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zigzaggy is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 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 zigzaggy, adj., 1840–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1840 | 0.0014
1850 | 0.0013
1860 | 0.0015
1870 | 0.0016
1880 | 0.0018
1890 | 0.002
1900 | 0.0022
1910 | 0.0021
1920 | 0.0023
1930 | 0.0022
1940 | 0.002
1950 | 0.002
1960 | 0.002
1970 | 0.0019
1980 | 0.0021
1990 | 0.002
2000 | 0.0021
2010 | 0.0024

zigzaggy, adj. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zigzaggy, adj. was last modified in December 2024.