zaibatsu, n.

zaibatsu
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zaibatsu_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zaibatsunoun

## Earlier version

- zaibatsu in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zaibatsu mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zaibatsu. 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 noun zaibatsu?

About 0.3occurrences per million words in modern written English

1930 | 0.081
1940 | 0.11
1950 | 0.15
1960 | 0.22
1970 | 0.28
1980 | 0.28
1990 | 0.28
2000 | 0.27
2010 | 0.24

### How is the noun zaibatsu pronounced?

#### British English

/zʌɪˈbatsuː/
zigh-BAT-soo

### Where does the noun zaibatsu come from?

Earliest known use

1930s

The earliest known use of the noun zaibatsu is in the 1930s.

OED's earliest evidence for zaibatsu is from 1937, in Economic Journal.

zaibatsu is a borrowing from Japanese.

### Nearby entries

1. Zadokite, n. & adj. 1910–
2. zadruga, n. 1887–
3. zaffre | zaffer, n. 1662–
4. zaftig, adj. 1921–
5. zafu, n. 1965–
6. zag, n., adv., & v. 1793–
7. zagaie | zagaye, n. 1590–1698
8. Zaghlulist, n. & adj. 1921–
9. zaguan, n. 1851–
10. Zahal, n. 1959–
11. zaibatsu, n.1937–
12. Zaidi, n. 1709–
13. zaikai, n. 1968–
14. zaim, n. 1807–
15. zaire, n. 1967–
16. Zairean, n. & adj. 1972–
17. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
18. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
19. zaitech, n. 1986–
20. zakat, n. 1668–
21. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Japanese.
Japanese, < zai wealth + batzu clique.

## Meaning & use

1. 1937–
   In Japan, a large capitalist organization, usually based on a single family having controlling interests in a variety of companies, of a type that existed before the war of 1939–45; since 1947, a cartel or conglomerate. Also, the members of such an enterprise.
   1. 1937

      > These concerns are popularly known in Japan as the Zaibatsu or money-cliques.

      Economic Journal vol. 47 272
   2. 1947

      > A chosen financial oligarchy, the famous Zaibatsu.

      R. Benedict, Chrysanthemum & Sword iv. 93
   3. 1957

      > The zaibatsu and the landlords.

      Pacific Affairs vol. 30 219
   4. 1959

      > By getting the right people to sit for you. The zaibatsu. The Royal Family.

      R. Kirkbride, Tamiko (1960) vi. 41
   5. 1964

      > While the companies being merged presently are old Zaibatsu connected firms, and the groups are sponsoring the moves, the economics of the mergers themselves have little to do with such connections.

      Asia Magazine 26 July 15/2
   6. 1965

      > The Zaibatsu are becoming concerned about the problems of seniority and management.

      Economist 11 December 1219/2
   7. 1970

      > A zaibatsu is similar to a U.S. conglomerate, which is also a group of unrelated companies under sophisticated financial management.

      Scientific American March 31/2
   8. 1974

      > When a community, historically prone to become the victim of unreason, finds itself in a position of success amid failure, its only recourse is probably to go to ground. The Japanese Zaibatsu understood this; a really successful Japanese business man was and is rarely obtrusive.

      P. Gore-Booth, With Great Truth & Respect 45
   9. 1982

      > Japan's prewar zaibatsu holding companies.

      K. Ohmae, Mind of Strategist (1983) ix. 109
   economics and commerce
   1. zaibatsu 1937–
      In Japan, a large capitalist organization, usually based on a single family having controlling interests in a variety of companies, of a type that…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zʌɪˈbatsuː/
zigh-BAT-soo

####

##### 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.

####

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

Also Zaibatsu.

## Frequency

zaibatsu typically occurs about 0.3 times per million words in modern written English.

zaibatsu is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 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 zaibatsu, n., 1930–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1930 | 0.081
1940 | 0.11
1950 | 0.15
1960 | 0.22
1970 | 0.28
1980 | 0.28
1990 | 0.28
2000 | 0.27
2010 | 0.24

zaibatsu, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zaibatsu, n. was last modified in December 2024.