zirconitenoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zirconite mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zirconite. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zirconite?
| 1810 | 0.0019 |
| 1820 | 0.0015 |
| 1830 | 0.0013 |
| 1840 | 0.0014 |
| 1850 | 0.0012 |
| 1860 | 0.0007 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0005 |
| 1900 | 0.0006 |
| 1910 | 0.001 |
| 1920 | 0.0013 |
| 1930 | 0.0014 |
| 1940 | 0.0015 |
| 1950 | 0.0016 |
| 1960 | 0.0016 |
| 1970 | 0.0015 |
| 1980 | 0.001 |
| 1990 | 0.0008 |
| 2000 | 0.0007 |
| 2010 | 0.0006 |
How is the noun zirconite pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zirconite come from?
Earliest known use
1800s
The earliest known use of the noun zirconite is in the 1800s.
OED's earliest evidence for zirconite is from 1806, in the writing of Stephen Weston, antiquary and classical scholar.
zirconite is a borrowing from German.
Etymons: German Zirkonit.
Nearby entries
- zirbal, adj.?a1425–
- zirbus, n.a1400–
- zircaloy, n.1953–
- zircon, n.1794–
- zirconate, n.1820–
- zircon blue, n. & adj.1928–
- zircon earth, n.1794–
- zirconia, n.1794–
- zirconian, adj.1802–
- zirconic, adj.1804–
- zirconite, n.1806–
- zirconitic, adj.1883–
- zirconium, n.1808–
- zircon-like, adj.1857–
- zircono-, comb. form
- zirconolite, n.1957–
- zircon-syenite, n.1813–
- zirconyl, n.1887–
- zirkelite, n.1895–
- zit, n.1912–
- zit cream, n.1968–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1806–The mineral zircon; esp. a greyish or brownish variety of this.
- 1806
Zirconit is of the colour of a clove-gilliflower, and at times of an hyacinthine red.
S. Weston, Werneria vol. II. 64 - 1811
This system..has not disturbed the union which Nature has established between zircon, hyacinth, and zirconite [French zirconite], garnet and pyrope, quartz and iron-flint (eisenkiesel).
translation of R. Chenevix, Observ. Mineral. Syst. 31 - 1850
Zirconite presents grayish or brownish tints, and is frequently rough or opaque.
J. D. Dana, System of Mineralogy (ed. 3) 379 - 1920
There are numerous commercial disadvantages..which must be overcome before the full refractory value of zirconite is developed.
Foundry 15 November 913/1 - 2012
This factory mines and processes this beach sand for extracting rare earth minerals (zirconite, illuminite, etc.).
Journal Coastal Research vol. 28 135/1
- jargon1769–A translucent, colourless, or smoky variety of the mineral zircon, found in Sri Lanka.
- zircon1794–A mineral which consists of zirconium silicate and occurs as prismatic crystals, most commonly light or reddish brown but sometimes colourless…
- zirconite1806–The mineral zircon; esp. a greyish or brownish variety of this.
- hyacinth1879–A precious stone. (a) Rendering or representing Greek ὑάκινθος, Latin hyacinthus, ancient name of a precious stone of a blue colour, probably the…
- Matura diamond1886–transferred. Applied (usually with distinguishing epithet) to other crystalline minerals, resembling the diamond in brilliancy; as Bristol diamond…
- jargon1769–A translucent, colourless, or smoky variety of the mineral zircon, found in Sri Lanka.
- zircon1794–A mineral which consists of zirconium silicate and occurs as prismatic crystals, most commonly light or reddish brown but sometimes colourless…
- zirconite1806–The mineral zircon; esp. a greyish or brownish variety of this.
- Matara diamond1807–A colourless or smoky variety of zircon used as a gem; = jargon, n.² Also: a stone of this variety.
- malacon1854–A soft brown altered form of zircon.
- hyacinth1879–A precious stone. (a) Rendering or representing Greek ὑάκινθος, Latin hyacinthus, ancient name of a precious stone of a blue colour, probably the…
- lavenite1886–Silicate of zirconium, found in brown monoclinic crystals.
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
- 1800szirconit
- 1800s–zirconite
Frequency
zirconite typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zirconite is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zirconite, n., 1810–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1810 | 0.0019 |
| 1820 | 0.0015 |
| 1830 | 0.0013 |
| 1840 | 0.0014 |
| 1850 | 0.0012 |
| 1860 | 0.0007 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0005 |
| 1900 | 0.0006 |
| 1910 | 0.001 |
| 1920 | 0.0013 |
| 1930 | 0.0014 |
| 1940 | 0.0015 |
| 1950 | 0.0016 |
| 1960 | 0.0016 |
| 1970 | 0.0015 |
| 1980 | 0.001 |
| 1990 | 0.0008 |
| 2000 | 0.0007 |
| 2010 | 0.0006 |
Compounds & derived words
- zirconitic, adj. 1883–Of the nature of or containing zirconite.