Zend-Avesta, n.

zend-avesta
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zend-avesta_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# Zend-Avestanoun

## Earlier version

- Zend-Avesta in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zend-Avesta mean?

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

### How common is the noun Zend-Avesta?

About 0.03occurrences per million words in modern written English

1790 | 0.083
1800 | 0.084
1810 | 0.083
1820 | 0.078
1830 | 0.11
1840 | 0.14
1850 | 0.14
1860 | 0.16
1870 | 0.17
1880 | 0.17
1890 | 0.17
1900 | 0.15
1910 | 0.12
1920 | 0.089
1930 | 0.064
1940 | 0.052
1950 | 0.041
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.032
1980 | 0.032
1990 | 0.03
2000 | 0.029
2010 | 0.029

### How is the noun Zend-Avesta pronounced?

#### British English

/ˌzɛndəˈvɛstə/
zen-duh-VESS-tuh

#### U.S. English

/ˌzɛndəˈvɛstə/
zen-duh-VESS-tuh

### Where does the noun Zend-Avesta come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun Zend-Avesta is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zend-Avesta is from 1630, in the writing of Henry Lord, clergyman and ethnographer.

Zend-Avesta is a borrowing from Persian.

Etymons: Persian zandawastā.

### Nearby entries

1. Zemsky Sobor, n. 1877–
2. zemstvo, n. 1865–
3. zemstvoist, n. 1904–
4. Zen, n. & adj. 1727–
5. Zen, v. 1968–
6. zenana, n. & adj. 1761–
7. zenana cloth, n. 1885–
8. Zen Buddhist, adj. & n. 1917–
9. Zend, n. & adj. 1700–
10. zendaletto, n. 1789–
11. Zend-Avesta, n.1630–
12. Zend-Avestaic, adj. 1816
13. Zend-Avestan, adj. & n. 1871–
14. Zend-Avestic, adj. 1864–
15. Zendic, n. & adj. 1771–
16. Zendician, n. a1833–66
17. Zendicism, n. 1697–
18. Zendish, adj. & n. 1802–1921
19. Zendist, n. 1877–1907
20. zendo, n. 1914–
21. Zener, n.¹ 1934–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Persian.
Etymon: Persian zandawastā.
< Persian zandawastā (now also zandastā) < zand + awastā (see note), after Middle Persian awastā-wa-zand, lit. ‘Avesta and interpretation’ < awastā, the name of the most ancient Zoroastrian texts (see…
< Persian zandawastā (now also zandastā) < zand + awastā (see note), after Middle Persian awastā-wa-zand, lit. ‘Avesta and interpretation’ < awastā, the name of the most ancient Zoroastrian texts (see note) + wa and + zand interpretation, commentary, exegesis, also specifically the body of commentary on the Avesta (cognate with Avestan zainti, ultimately < zan to recognize, to know: see can v.1).

### Notes

Middle Persian (Pahlavi) abestāg (later awastā; Persian awastā) is of uncertain origin, but perhaps (with an underlying sense ‘injunction, command, testament’) < the Iranian base of Old Persian api-, Avestan aipi- (see epi- prefix) + a derivative of the Iranian base of Old Persian stā-, Avestan stā- to stand, to place (see stand n.1); compare Sogdian ʾpštʾwn injunction, command, ʾpšty- to enjoin, command. Compare later Avesta n.
Compare French †Zundeuastavv (1657 or earlier), Zend Avesta (1762 or earlier).

## Meaning & use

1. 1630–
   The sacred writings of Zoroastrianism; the ancient text of the Avesta (Avesta n.), written in the Avestan language, together with the accompanying exegesis, commentary, or translation, written in Book Pahlavi (cf. Zend n. A.1b). Also: the Avesta by itself.
   Although still attested, the application of Zend-Avesta to the ancient Avestan texts independent of the accompanying exegisis is generally considered erroneous by specialists; cf. Zend n. A.1a.
   1. 1630

      > A booke writ in the Persian Character, containing their Scripture, and in their owne language, called their Zvndavastaw.

      H. Lord, Display of Two Forraigne Sects Proeme
   2. 1695

      > Learn the Zundavastaw by rote.

      W. Turner, Hist. All Relig. World ii. 633
   3. 1762

      > Kabul, says the Zendavesta, was born on the rushy banks of the river Mawra.

      O. Goldsmith, Citizen of World vol. I. 53
   4. 1799

      > The zendavesta is marked with the seal of philosophy; its precepts are pure.

      Critical Review vol. 26 501
   5. 1843

      > The Pársí religion: as contained in the Zand-Avasta.

      J. Wilson (title)
   6. 1854

      > When the Vaticans shall be filled with Vedas and Zendavestas and Bibles.

      H. D. Thoreau, Walden 113
   7. 1921

      > The Zend-Avesta..is a Talmud rather than a Bible.

      Jewish Quarterly Review vol. 12 46
   8. 1962

      > The Gathas contain the oldest parts of the Zend Avesta and concern the establishment of the ethics of the religion.

      American Journal of Sociology vol. 68 13/2
   9. 2012

      > A Christian had to swear by the New Testament, a Jew by the Hebrew Testament and a Parsi by the open Zend-Avesta.

      Telegraph (India) (Nexis) 1 January
   religion
   1. Zend-Avesta 1630–
      The sacred writings of Zoroastrianism; the ancient text of the Avesta (Avesta, n.), written in the Avestan language, together with the…
   2. Zend 1700–
      Frequently with the. The sacred writings of Zoroastrianism; the Avesta (Avesta, n.); formerly also in plural. Cf. Zend-Avesta, n. Now rare.
   3. Avesta 1774–
      The sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism; spec. the ancient texts enshrining the law, liturgy, and belief system of Zoroastrianism, written in the…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˌzɛndəˈvɛstə/
zen-duh-VESS-tuh

### U.S. English

/ˌzɛndəˈvɛstə/
zen-duh-VESS-tuh

####

##### 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.

####

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

1. 1600s
   Zundawastau, Zvndavastaw
2. 1600s–1700s
   Zundavastaw
3. 1700s–
   Zendavesta
4. 1800s
   Zend Awasta (rare)
5. 1800s–1900s
   Zand-Avasta, Zandavasta
6. 1800s–
   Zand Avasta (now rare), Zend Avasta (now rare), Zend Avesta, Zend-Avesta

## Frequency

Zend-Avesta typically occurs about 0.03 times per million words in modern written English.

Zend-Avesta 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 Zend-Avesta, n., 1790–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1790 | 0.083
1800 | 0.084
1810 | 0.083
1820 | 0.078
1830 | 0.11
1840 | 0.14
1850 | 0.14
1860 | 0.16
1870 | 0.17
1880 | 0.17
1890 | 0.17
1900 | 0.15
1910 | 0.12
1920 | 0.089
1930 | 0.064
1940 | 0.052
1950 | 0.041
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.032
1980 | 0.032
1990 | 0.03
2000 | 0.029
2010 | 0.029

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. Zend, n. & adj. 1700–
   The ancient Iranian language in which the Avesta…

1. Avesta, n. 1774–
   The sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism; spec. the…

Zend-Avesta, n. was revised in June 2018.

Zend-Avesta, n. was last modified in September 2024.