zealousnessnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zealousness mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zealousness. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zealousness?
| 1790 | 0.0045 |
| 1800 | 0.0056 |
| 1810 | 0.0061 |
| 1820 | 0.0064 |
| 1830 | 0.0063 |
| 1840 | 0.0078 |
| 1850 | 0.0084 |
| 1860 | 0.0093 |
| 1870 | 0.01 |
| 1880 | 0.012 |
| 1890 | 0.013 |
| 1900 | 0.017 |
| 1910 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 0.023 |
| 1930 | 0.027 |
| 1940 | 0.032 |
| 1950 | 0.036 |
| 1960 | 0.041 |
| 1970 | 0.044 |
| 1980 | 0.048 |
| 1990 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 0.051 |
| 2010 | 0.051 |
How is the noun zealousness pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zealousness come from?
Earliest known use
mid 1500s
The earliest known use of the noun zealousness is in the mid 1500s.
OED's earliest evidence for zealousness is from around 1555, in Letter to Freewillers.
zealousness is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zealous adj., ‑ness suffix.
Nearby entries
- zealist, n.1614–
- zealless, adj.a1594–
- zealot, n. & adj.a1400–
- zealotic, adj.1657–
- zealotical, adj.1630–
- zealotism, n.1645–
- zealotist, n. & adj.1593–
- zealotry, n.1653–
- zealous, adj.?1495–
- zealously, adv.?1495–
- zealousness, n.c1555–
- zealousy, n.1542–
- zeal-pretending, adj.1652–69
- zeal-quenching, adj.1688–1877
- zeal-scoffing, adj.1605
- zeal-transported, adj.a1644–59
- zeal-worthy, adj.1797
- zea maize, n.1811–
- zearalanol, n.1966–
- zearalenone, n.1966–
- zeatin, n.1963–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- c1555–The quality of being zealous; zeal, enthusiasm.
- c1555
Mark..Christ's Words, which he spake with Zealousnes and Power.
Letter to Freewillers in J. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials (1721) vol. III. App. xliii. 122 - 1579
The old Fathers grew out of a zealousnes of the mynde towardes God..to institute certaine Ceremonies.
in W. Wilkinson, Confutation Familye of Loue sig. A iv - 1602
The Spirit of God himselfe by this holy meditation lifteth vs vp to such a zealousnesse in prayer.
F. Marbury, Serm. preached at Paules Crosse sig. C - c1662
The Zealousness of our Endeavours.
R. Boyle, Some Motives Love of God (1708) 169 - 1795
Mrs. Billington, with that zealousness of friendship, and warmth of good nature..strove to support her spirits.
J. Haslewood, Secret Hist. Green-room (new edition) vol. II. 381 - 1803
I will not betray his confidence nor that zealousness in his cause which he has a right to expect.
Annual Register, Chron. 608/1 - 1903
It is difficult to draw the line between zealousness and zealotry.
D. McLean, Stud. Apostles xiii. 194 - 1953
The local bosses, and..the church authorities joined with a zealousness worthy a better cause.
American Slavic & East European Review vol. 12 212 - 2011
Their religious zealousness is obvious.
Social & Econ. Studies vol. 60 68
- jealoustea1382–82Jealousy; zeal.
- yeverousheada1400Desire, eagerness.
- zeala1413–Passionate enthusiasm for or dedication to a cause, belief, undertaking, etc.; vehement, eager, or… As a count noun. Now somewhat rare.
- zealc1425–Passionate enthusiasm for or dedication to a cause, belief, undertaking, etc.; vehement, eager, or… As a mass noun.
- jealousy1436–1565Zeal or vehemence of feeling in favour of a person or thing; devotion, eagerness, anxiety to serve. Obsolete.
- eagernessc1450–1678Impetuosity, fierceness. Obsolete.
- heartinessc1475–The quality or condition of being hearty (in various senses of the adjective).
- estudy1483Care, desire, zeal; = study, n.
- fierceness1533–Eagerness. †Const. to with infinitive.
- zealousnessc1555–The quality of being zealous; zeal, enthusiasm.
- zealousyc1565–Zeal, zealousness.
- edge1580–1867figurative and in extended use. Enthusiasm. Obsolete.
- warmth1600–An excited or fervent state of the feelings; strength or glow of feeling; fervent or vehement character (of an expression, welcome, salute, etc.)…
- empressement1709–Enthusiasm, effusiveness; animated display of friendliness.
- enthusiasm1717–Originally: rapturous intensity of feeling in favour of a particular cause, principle, etc.; passionate eagerness or zeal in the pursuit of an…
- full-heartedness1820–Wholehearted enthusiasm or commitment; (also) strong emotional investment.
- entrain1847–Enthusiasm, liveliness; an instance of this.
- impressment1854–Earnestness, ardour.
- fanaticism1855–In a weaker sense: Eagerness or enthusiasm in any pursuit.
- keenness1875–Intensity of feeling or action; eagerness, incisiveness.
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
Frequency
zealousness typically occurs about 0.05 times per million words in modern written English.
zealousness 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 of zealousness, 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 | 0.0045 |
| 1800 | 0.0056 |
| 1810 | 0.0061 |
| 1820 | 0.0064 |
| 1830 | 0.0063 |
| 1840 | 0.0078 |
| 1850 | 0.0084 |
| 1860 | 0.0093 |
| 1870 | 0.01 |
| 1880 | 0.012 |
| 1890 | 0.013 |
| 1900 | 0.017 |
| 1910 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 0.023 |
| 1930 | 0.027 |
| 1940 | 0.032 |
| 1950 | 0.036 |
| 1960 | 0.041 |
| 1970 | 0.044 |
| 1980 | 0.048 |
| 1990 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 0.051 |
| 2010 | 0.051 |
Frequency of zealousness, 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 | 0.013 |
| 2018 | 0.013 |
| 2019 | 0.011 |
| 2020 | 0.011 |
| 2021 | 0.011 |
| 2022 | 0.0096 |
| 2023 | 0.0093 |
| 2024 | 0.01 |
Compounds & derived words
- overzealousness, n. 1849–The quality of being overzealous; excessive zeal.