zombifyverb
Factsheet
What does the verb zombify mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the verb zombify. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the verb zombify?
| 1950 | 0.0006 |
| 1960 | 0.0014 |
| 1970 | 0.0026 |
| 1980 | 0.0034 |
| 1990 | 0.004 |
| 2000 | 0.0046 |
| 2010 | 0.0057 |
How is the verb zombify pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the verb zombify come from?
Earliest known use
1950s
The earliest known use of the verb zombify is in the 1950s.
OED's earliest evidence for zombify is from 1950, in New York Times.
zombify is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zombie n., ‑fy suffix.
Nearby entries
- zollverein, n.1843–
- zolotnik, n.1783–
- zombie, n.1788–
- zombie apocalypse, n.1982–
- zombied, adj.1972–
- zombie-esque, adj.1946–
- zombie-like, adj. & adv.1932–
- zombie worm, n.2005–
- zombification, n.1968–
- zombified, adj.1965–
- zombify, v.1950–
- zombocalypse, n.2007–
- zomboid, adj.1963–
- zom-com, n.2004–
- zomotherapeutic, adj.1900–
- zomotherapy, n.1900–
- zona, n.1706–
- zona ignea, n.1818–
- zonal, adj.1867–
- zonality, n.1909–
- zonally, adv.1873–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1950–transitive. To transform into a zombie. Chiefly in extended use: to make easy to control; to stupefy; to deprive of energy or vitality (cf. zombie n. I.3a).
- 1950
Men can be zombified or killed.
New York Times 13 September 26/7 - 1983
Moms are giving no quarter, frantic that their teens will be permanently zombified and grow up to act like David Hartman.
Washington Post (Nexis) 6 February 37 - 1990
A fine cast is zombified under..[his] drab direction.
Time (Nexis) 16 April 12 - 1998
One..had been officially classified a zombie by the Haitian High Court (an alleged sorcerer was convicted of zombifying him).
Guardian 14 October ii. 17/1 - 2003
The aftermath of a meteorite shower zombifies most of the community.
Fangoria October 43/2
the world physical sensation physical sensibility physical insensibility dullness of sense perception [transitive verbs] dull (the senses) stupefy- amazeOld English–1769transitive. To stun or stupefy (a person); to daze; to bewilder, perplex. Obsolete.
- sweveOld English–1275transitive. To put to sleep (or to death), lull to rest; also, to stupefy.
- mazec1390–transitive. To stupefy or daze; to befuddle; †to render crazed, distraught, or alarmed (obsolete). Usually in passive. Now chiefly archaic and reg…
- dazea1400–To prostrate the mental faculties of (a person), as by a blow on the head, a violent shock, weariness, intoxicating drink, etc.; to benumb or…
- fordulla1400–1578transitive. To make dull; to stupefy. Only in past participle.
- stupefy?a1425–transitive. Originally: †to cause loss of physical sensation in (a part of the body); to dull or deaden (the nerves, senses, etc.) (obsolete). In…
- dullc1440–To render sluggish or inert; to deprive of quickness, sharpness, or activity; to stupefy (a person, or the mind, understanding, wits, etc.).
- entrance1569–transitive. To put (a person or animal) into an unconscious or half-conscious state; spec. to put into a hypnotic state. Now somewhat archaic and rare…
- damp1570–1726To stifle (the faculties) with noxious ‘fumes’; to stupefy, benumb, daze. Obsolete.
- daunt1581–1846To daze, stupefy. Obsolete exc. dialect.
- stupefact1583–transitive. To stupefy (in various senses); to dull or deaden (the senses, intellect, emotions, etc.); to stun, daze, or bewilder (a person). Also…
- trance1597–transitive. To throw into a trance or a similar state; †to stupefy; to entrance, enrapture. Chiefly poetic.
- astound1600–1727To deprive of consciousness, stupefy. Obsolete.
- mulla1616–87transitive. To make mild, soften, thaw. Obsolete.
- doze1617–1818transitive. To stupefy; to muddle; to make drowsy or dull; to bewilder, confuse, perplex. Obsolete.
- soporate1623–78transitive. To put to sleep; to dull, stupefy.
- consopite1647–85transitive. To lay or lull to sleep; to quiet, compose; to stupefy. (Usually figurative.)
- obstupefying1660–Stupefying, bewildering.
- dozzlea1670transitive. To render stupid; to stupefy.
- infatuate1712To stupefy (the senses). Obsolete. rare.
- smoor1718transitive. figurative or transferred. To conceal or hide; to suppress; to deaden, stupefy, etc.
- silly1859–transitive. To stupefy, stun. Cf. silly, adj. A.III.8a. In later use English regional (Lincolnshire).
- maizel1869–transitive. To stupefy, bewilder.
- zombify1950–transitive. To transform into a zombie. Chiefly in extended use: to make easy to control; to stupefy; to deprive of energy or vitality (cf. zombie, n.…
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
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
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
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
- 1900s–zombiefy, zombify
Frequency
zombify typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zombify 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 of zombify, v., 1950–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 0.0006 |
| 1960 | 0.0014 |
| 1970 | 0.0026 |
| 1980 | 0.0034 |
| 1990 | 0.004 |
| 2000 | 0.0046 |
| 2010 | 0.0057 |
Frequency of zombify, v., 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 | 0.032 |
| 2018 | 0.03 |
| 2019 | 0.03 |
| 2020 | 0.033 |
| 2021 | 0.036 |
| 2022 | 0.034 |
| 2023 | 0.036 |
| 2024 | 0.037 |
Compounds & derived words
- zombified, adj. 1965–Transformed into a zombie. Chiefly in extended…
- zombification, n. 1968–The process of becoming a zombie. Chiefly in…