Zimmer, n.

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

# Zimmernoun

## Earlier version

- Zimmer in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zimmer mean?

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

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.0088
1970 | 0.011
1980 | 0.013
1990 | 0.013
2000 | 0.014
2010 | 0.016

### How is the noun Zimmer pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɪmə/

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɪmər/

### Where does the noun Zimmer come from?

Earliest known use

1950s

The earliest known use of the noun Zimmer is in the 1950s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zimmer is from 1951, in Trade Marks Journal.

### Nearby entries

1. zilla parishad, n. 1957–
2. zillion, n. & adj. 1920–
3. zillionaire, n. 1926–
4. zillionth, n. & adj. 1940–
5. zimb, n. 1790–
6. Zimba, n. 1625–
7. Zimbabwe, n. 1891–
8. Zimbabwean, adj. & n. 1961–
9. zimbel, n. 1888–
10. zimme, n. 1848–63
11. Zimmer, n.1951–
12. zina, n. 1817–
13. zinc, n. 1651–
14. zinc, v. 1843–
15. zinc-air, adj. 1970–
16. Zincala, n. 1844–91
17. Zincalo, n. 1841–
18. zinc-alum, n. 1851–
19. zinc-amide, n. 1859–
20. zincate, n. 1872–
21. zinc-blende, n. 1842–

## Etymology

Maker's name.

## Meaning & use

1. 1951–
   A proprietary name for orthopædic appliances, used esp. attrib. to designate a kind of walking frame.
   1. 1951

      > Zimmer... Orthopaedic appliances and instruments. Zimmer Orthopaedic Limited,..London, W.1..; manufacturers.

      Trade Marks Journal 11 April 358/1
   2. 1957

      > Zimmer. For orthopedic appliances and fracture equipment. First use in May of 1927.

      Official Gazette (U.S. Patent Office) 16 April tm116/2
   3. 1974

      > For patients with unsteadiness and ataxia, a simple walking frame of ‘Zimmer’ pattern is valuable.

      R. Passmore & J. S. Robson, Companion to Medical Studies vol. III. ii. xxxiv. 103/1
   4. 1981

      > I had felt too ill to try and use my zimmer~frame and calipers.

      Church Times 10 April 14/4
   5. 1982

      > Incapable of walking without a Zimmer frame.

      E. Dewhurst, Whoever I Am iii. 44
   medicine
   1. walking frame 1899–
      A free-standing metal frame used as a walking aid by a person who holds or leans on handles at the top; cf. walker, n.¹ II.11b.
   2. walker 1941–
      = walking frame, n.
   3. frame 1947–
      = walking frame, n. Cf. Zimmer, n.
   4. Zimmer 1951–
      A proprietary name for orthopædic appliances, used esp. attrib. to designate a kind of walking frame.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. Zimmer 1951–
      A proprietary name for orthopædic appliances, used esp. attrib. to designate a kind of walking frame.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɪmə/

### U.S. English

/ˈzɪmər/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also zimmer.

## Frequency

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

Zimmer 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 Zimmer, n., 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.0088
1970 | 0.011
1980 | 0.013
1990 | 0.013
2000 | 0.014
2010 | 0.016

### Frequency of Zimmer, 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 | 0.04
2018 | 0.04
2019 | 0.039
2020 | 0.033
2021 | 0.031
2022 | 0.028
2023 | 0.024
2024 | 0.021

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

Zimmer, n. was last modified in December 2024.