Zeelander, n.

zeelander
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zeelander_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# Zeelandernoun

## Earlier version

- Zealander in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zeelander mean?

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

### How common is the noun Zeelander?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1770 | 0.073
1780 | 0.058
1790 | 0.049
1800 | 0.043
1810 | 0.0038
1820 | 0.0047
1830 | 0.03
1840 | 0.038
1850 | 0.045
1860 | 0.051
1870 | 0.056
1880 | 0.058
1890 | 0.06
1900 | 0.037
1910 | 0.032
1920 | 0.032
1930 | 0.028
1940 | 0.024
1950 | 0.024
1960 | 0.021
1970 | 0.02
1980 | 0.019
1990 | 0.013
2000 | 0.012
2010 | 0.011

### How is the noun Zeelander pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈziːləndə/
ZEE-luhn-duh

#### U.S. English

/ˈziləndər/
ZEE-luhn-duhr

### Where does the noun Zeelander come from?

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the noun Zeelander is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for Zeelander is from around 1400, in Brut.

From a proper name, combined with an English element; modelled on a Dutch lexical item.

Etymons: proper name Zeeland, ‑er suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. zebroid, adj. & n. 1881–
2. zebrule, n. 1899–
3. zebu, n. 1771–
4. zecchino, n. 1572–
5. Zechstein, n. 1798–
6. zed, n. c1175–
7. zedbed, n. 1954–
8. zedoary, n. Old English–
9. zedonk, n. 1961–
10. zee, n. 1580–
11. Zeelander, n.c1400–
12. Zeelandic, adj. 1802–
13. Zeelandish, adj. 1593–
14. Zeeman, n. 1897–
15. zeep, n. 1878–
16. zeep, v. 1886–
17. zeeping, adj. 1895–
18. zef, adj. 1990–
19. zegadine, n. 1651–
20. zeilanite, n. 1815–
21. zein, n. 1820–

## Etymology

### Summary

From a proper name, combined with an English element; modelled on a Dutch lexical item.
Etymons: proper name Zeeland, ‑er suffix1.
< Zeeland, the name of a province of the Netherlands + ‑er suffix1, after Middle Dutch selandere, selandre, Middle Dutch, Dutch zeelander…
< Zeeland, the name of a province of the Netherlands + ‑er suffix1, after Middle Dutch selandere, selandre, Middle Dutch, Dutch zeelander.

### Notes

Compare Middle Low German zeelandere, Middle French Zellandois, Zelandois, Zeelandois (late 14th cent.; French Zélandois).
The name of Zeeland (also Zealand, †Zeland, †Seland, †Sealand) is < Middle Dutch Zeeland, Zeelant, Seeland, etc. (Dutch Zeeland) < zee sea n. + land land n.1 It is attested in English from the late 14th cent. Compare:

1. (a1387)

   > His wyf and his children..he lefte hem at Andwerp in Selond [Latin Seland].

   J. Trevisa, translation of R. Higden, Polychronicon (St. John's Cambridge MS.) (1882) vol. VIII. 335 (Middle English Dictionary)
   [Composed a1387]
2. 1443

   > Þe same wolles hydes..to carie..unto Zeland.

   in H. Nicolas, Proceedings & Ordinances of Privy Council (1835) vol. V. 227 (Middle English Dictionary)

## Meaning & use

1. c1400–
   A native or inhabitant of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.
   Zeeland is an agricultural province of the south-western Netherlands; it encompasses the estuaries of several rivers and much of its land is reclaimed from the sea.
   1. c1400

      > When þis Arnolde was in þe hye see, he was taken wiþ Selanders [variant readings Seelanderes, Solendirs].

      Brut (Rawlinson MS. B. 171) 235 (Middle English Dictionary)
   2. 1436

      > The town of Gaund have graunted hym XV Ml men..wythoute Hollanders, Zelanders, Brabanders, Ghelders, Hanawders that ben apoyntid unto the same nombre.

      in Historical Manuscripts Commission: Rep. MSS Var. Coll. (1907) vol. IV. 197 in Parliamentary Papers 1906 (Cd. 3218) vol. LXIV. 1
   3. 1443

      > Lettres of inquisicion..to enquere who were takers of any of þe Hollanders & Zellanders goodes.

      in H. Nicolas, Proceedings & Ordinances of Privy Council (1835) vol. V. 308 (Middle English Dictionary)
   4. 1523

      > For as for the holanders, and zelanders [French Zellandois], the warre of Flaunders touched then no thynge, they wolde nat therfore defende their marchaundyses to rynne.

      Lord Berners, translation of J. Froissart, Cronycles vol. I. f. cccxx/1v
   5. 1583

      > The Zealanders..with their long rusty prages, slew euery mothers sonne of them.

      T. Stocker, translation of Tragicall Historie Ciuile Warres of Lowe Countries iii. f. 133
   6. 1608

      > The Zeelanders [French Zeelandois] had a wonderfull rich bootie in all these shippes.

      E. Grimeston, translation of J. F. Le Petit, Gen. Hist. Netherlands ix. 480
   7. 1656

      > She doth..make more..war upon the Spaniards, than do the Hollanders and Zealanders [Italian Zelandesi].

      Earl of Monmouth, translation of T. Boccalini, Politick Touch-stone 397
   8. 1766

      > The Zealanders let their's [sc. madder] grow larger.

      Complete Farmer at Madder
   9. 1805

      > A victory which the fleet of the Zealanders [1832 Zeelanders] had obtained over the grand fleet of Alva.

      Syst. Geography vol. III. 466
   10. 1855

       > Every merchant ship that cleared out from the Thames or the Severn would be manned by Zealanders and Hollanders and Frieslanders.

       T. B. Macaulay, History of England vol. IV. xx. 485
   11. 1880

       > The neighbouring village of Zoeterwoude shook with the discharges of the Zealanders' cannon.

       J. L. Motley, Rise of Dutch Republic (new edition) iv. ii. 577/2
   12. 1969

       > To see their ambitions fulfilled, promising young Zeelanders started turning to the mainland.

       Financial Times 21 March 7/6
   13. 2013

       > Here one can experience the ruthless power of the sea—according to many Zeelanders a reminder why we have to continue to fight nature.

       M. Drenthen in F. Clingerman et al., Interpreting Nature xi. 229
   1. Frison 1303
      A native of Friesland.
   2. Zeelander c1400–
      A native or inhabitant of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.
   3. Friese 1481
      = Frisian, n. B.a.
   4. Frisian 1601–
      An inhabitant of Friesland.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈziːləndə/
ZEE-luhn-duh

### U.S. English

/ˈziləndər/
ZEE-luhn-duhr

####

##### 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. Middle English
   Seelander, Solendir, Zellander
2. Middle English–1600s
   Zelander
3. 1500s
   Selander, Zelender
4. 1500s–1800s
   Zealander
5. 1600s
   Sealander
6. 1600s–
   Zeelander

## Frequency

Zeelander typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

Zeelander 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 Zeelander, n., 1770–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1770 | 0.073
1780 | 0.058
1790 | 0.049
1800 | 0.043
1810 | 0.0038
1820 | 0.0047
1830 | 0.03
1840 | 0.038
1850 | 0.045
1860 | 0.051
1870 | 0.056
1880 | 0.058
1890 | 0.06
1900 | 0.037
1910 | 0.032
1920 | 0.032
1930 | 0.028
1940 | 0.024
1950 | 0.024
1960 | 0.021
1970 | 0.02
1980 | 0.019
1990 | 0.013
2000 | 0.012
2010 | 0.011

Zeelander, n. was revised in June 2018.

Zeelander, n. was last modified in June 2025.