zari, n.

zari
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zari_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1993; not fully revised

# zarinoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zari mean?

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

This word is used in Indian English.

#### 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 noun zari?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.029
2018 | 0.03
2019 | 0.03
2020 | 0.029
2021 | 0.033
2022 | 0.039
2023 | 0.041
2024 | 0.044

### How is the noun zari pronounced?

#### British English

/ʒəˈriː/
zhuh-REE

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɑri/
ZAR-ee

#### Indian English

/zəˈriː/

### Where does the noun zari come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zari is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zari is from 1969, in Eve's Weekly (Bombay).

zari is a borrowing from Persian.

Etymons: Persian zarī.

### Nearby entries

1. Zar, n. 1868–
2. Zarathustrian, adj. & n. 1859–
3. Zarathustrianism, n. 1864–
4. Zarathustric, adj. 1848–
5. Zarathustrism, n. 1871–
6. zaratite, n. 1858–
7. zarcole, n. 1585–
8. zarda, n. 1899–
9. zardozi, n. 1871–
10. zarf | zurf, n. 1836–
11. zari, n.1969–
12. zariba, n. 1849–
13. zariba, v. 1885–
14. zarnich, n. 1612–
15. Zarp, n. 1895–
16. zarzuela, n. 1888–
17. zat, n. 1934–
18. zatch, n. 1950–
19. zawiya, n. 1836–
20. zawn, n. 1865–
21. zayat, n. 1823–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Persian.
Etymon: Persian zarī.
Persian, Urdu zarī, Hindi zarī, < zar gold, cognate with Sanskrit hari yellow.

## Meaning & use

1. 1969–
   Indian gold and silver brocade, typically used to decorate saris; (Indian English colloquial), a sari decorated with this.
   1. 1969

      > Sheer and shimmering with gold sequins, is this red chiffon caftan, with loose sleeves lightly cuffed and a panel of zari and tilli work down the front.

      Eve's Weekly (Bombay) 20 December 42/1
   2. 1971

      > Handloom zari of Rs 48 at 30–32.

      Hindustan Times Weekly (New Delhi) 4 April 3/2 (advertisement)
   3. 1989

      > The manager..shakes out deliveries from India. ‘It's a special time—people splash out on zaris..at £100 a time.’

      Independent 1 November 21
   costume textiles Indian English colloquial and slang
   1. sari 1785–
      A long wrapping garment of cloth or silk, usually of a bright colour, traditionally worn by women in South Asia; also, the material of which this…
   2. osari 1968–
      A type of sari traditionally associated with Sinhalese women of Sri Lanka, draped by wrapping around the waist, creating a distinctive frill…
   3. zari 1969–
      Indian gold and silver brocade, typically used to decorate saris; (Indian English colloquial), a sari decorated with this.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. brocade 1588–
      A textile fabric woven with a pattern of raised figures, originally in gold or silver; in later use, any kind of fabric richly wrought or ‘flowered’…
   2. imbrocado 1656–58
      = brocade, n. 1.
   3. broché a1877–
      Of a material, esp. silk: woven with a pattern on the surface. Also n., a material of such a texture.
   4. cloky 1922–
      = cloqué, n.
   5. cloqué 1950–
      A fabric with a surface raised irregularly in a blistered or embossed effect. Also attributive. Cf. cloky, n.
   6. zari 1969–
      Indian gold and silver brocade, typically used to decorate saris; (Indian English colloquial), a sari decorated with this.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ʒəˈriː/
zhuh-REE

### U.S. English

/ˈzɑri/
ZAR-ee

### Indian English

/zəˈriː/

####

##### 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.

####

Where a symbol is indicated as being ‘ELSI’, this symbol is reserved for special use, an Extension of the base symbol set only for where the root language is one of the Languages Spoken in India. In these cases, speakers familiar with that language are more likely to use a sound nearer that of the root language than to fully anglicize.

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ʈtea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ɖdye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay, beige
- ʋway, vee
- ffore
- t̪thaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- d̪thee
- zzee
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
- ʂmasha (ELSI)
- ɳprana (ELSI)
- ɽkankar (ELSI)
- ɭbhelpuri (ELSI)
- ʒ(ELSI only)
- qqila (ELSI)
- xkhalasi (ELSI)
- ɣmurgh (ELSI)

Consonants can be lengthened.

ELSI consonant use – Only for words whose root language is spoken in India, /h/ is also used to indicate salient aspiration, as in kheer /khiːr/. Other consonants including /r/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/ are used to reflect a broader range of qualities than in some varieties of English, while /nj/ reflects a voiced palatal nasal quality as in jnana /ˈnjaːna/. In words whose root is a language spoken in India, consonants can be followed by length marks where geminated, e.g. batta /ˈbhəθːaː/.

In Indian English, words which would have /ʒ/ in British or American Englishes (e.g. leisure) are transcribed with /dʒ/ instead. Where /ʒ/ does occur, it is as an ELSI symbol as an option for words transliterated zh in Urdu. British and American English /v/ is merged with /w/ (reflected as /ʋ/ in OED, combining features of both sounds). The pronunciation of /f/ may also vary.

Indian English has sounds known as ‘dental plosives’, similar to Irish English, which sound like /t/ and /d/ but with the tongue touching the teeth. These are represented here as /θ/ and /ð/ as they remain distinct from /t/ and /d/.

Unlike in British and U.S. Englishes, consonants are never regarded as being able to take on the function of a vowel.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- acomma
- ætrap
- ɑːbath, palm
- ɑː(r)start
- ɑːʋpower
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əstrut
- ə(r)letter
- ərnurse
- ɜːnurse
- ɔlot, cloth
- ɔ(ː)thought
- ɔː(r)north, cure
- eːface
- oːgoat
- oː(r)force, cure
- aʊmouth
- aɪpride
- ɔɪvoice
- ɪə(r)near
- ɛː(r)square
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)

ELSI vowels can be (un)lengthened, nasalized, and/or (de)rhotacized.

ELSI vowels – These vowels are reserved for words whose root language is spoken in India; they are similar in nature to the standard symbols above but vary in length or rhoticity. Vowels may also be nasalised, as in káns /kãs/. Vowels including /ə/, /ʊ/, /aɪ/, /aʊ/ are also used to reflect a broader range of vowel qualities than in some varieties of English.

##### 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

## Frequency

zari typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zari 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zari, n., 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.013
1970 | 0.014
1980 | 0.014
1990 | 0.014
2000 | 0.015
2010 | 0.015

### Frequency of zari, 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 | 0.029
2018 | 0.03
2019 | 0.03
2020 | 0.029
2021 | 0.033
2022 | 0.039
2023 | 0.041
2024 | 0.044

zari, n. was first published in 1993; not fully revised.

zari, n. was last modified in July 2023.