<Zarathustra, (also) Zarathushtra (AvestanZaraθuštra), an alternative form of the name of Zoroaster, who is traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism (see Zoroastrianadj.) + ‑iansuffix, after…
<Zarathustra, (also) Zarathushtra (AvestanZaraθuštra), an alternative form of the name of Zoroaster, who is traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism (see Zoroastrianadj.) + ‑iansuffix, after Germanzarathustrisch (1857 in the work translated in quot. 1859 at sense A.1).Compare the Avestan adjective zaraθuštri- relating to Zarathustra, which may also have influenced the formation of the German and English words.Compare earlier Zoroastrianadj. and Zoroastriann.
Notes
In sense A.2 with reference to Nietzsche's work Also sprach Zarathustra (1883–5) (first translated into English as Thus Spake Zarathustra (1896)), which discusses a variety of philosophical concepts, including that of the superman (supermann. 1).
Meaning & use
adjective
1.
1859–
Of, relating to, or characteristic of Zoroastrianism or its followers; designating a follower or adherent of Zoroastrianism; = Zoroastrianadj. Also: of or relating to the ancient Persian prophet, Zarathustra (also called Zoroaster). Cf. Zarathustricadj.
Use relating to the prophet individually is often to draw a distinction with Zoroastrian, as applied to the whole religious tradition.
1859
We must understand by it the burial of the dead, which notoriously was considered in the Zarathustrian religion as the greatest desecration of holy earth. [No corresponding sentence in German original.]
C. H. Cottrell, translation of C. C. J. Bunsen, Egypt's Placevol. III.iv. vi. 502
1891
The Bundahis is thoroughly Zarathustrian in spirit when it states [etc.].
T. K. Cheyne, Origin & Religious Contents of Psalter viii. 401
1903
Zarathustrian Gâthas in metre and rhythm.
L. H. Mills(title)
1969
Marriage is therefore incumbent upon every Zarathustrian man and woman.
B. T. Anklesaria, translation of Pahlavi Rivāyat of Āturfarnbag & Farnbag-srōsvol. II. 41
2015
It is the problem of reconciling evil and suffering with a benevolent and powerful deity and he connects its solution to three differing conceptions of God: Buddhist, Zarathustrian, and Calvinist.
Characteristic or reminiscent of a Nietzschean superman (supermann. 1); advocating or supporting a Nietzschean view of morality.
1897
The virtues and the glorious freedom of this race [sc. the Übermensch]..are illuminated by contrast with what, from the Zarathustrian point of view, are the inherent vices and weaknesses of our present civilisation.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine October 489/1
1904
Nietzsche found it convenient to take for granted the ready-made Zarathustrian individual.
North American Review December 846
1970
That he is a spokesman for Zarathustrian ideas has long been recognized.
American Literaturevol. 41 543
2012
With self-imposed Zarathustrian indifference.
Human Studiesvol. 35 359
noun
1871–
A follower or adherent of Zoroastrianism; = Zoroastriann.
1871
The Wicked Serpent of the Zarathustrians.
E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culturevol. II. xv. 219
1915
The story of the Magi was invented to convert Zarathustrians or Mithraists.
Monistvol. 25 296
2001
The longstanding consensus that Cyrus was a Zarathustrian, or that at the very least Ahura Mazda was his principal deity.
P. R. Bedford, Temple Restoration in Early Achaemenid Judah iii. 124
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
1800s–
Zarathushtrian ( British English /ˌzarəˈθuːʃtriən/ (zarr-uh-THOO-shtree-uhn) , U.S. English /ˌzɛrəˈθuʃtriən/ (zair-uh-THOO-shtree-uhn) ), Zarathustrian
Frequency
Zarathustrian typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zarathustrian 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 Zarathustrian, adj. & n., 1870–2010
* 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.