zimbel, n.

zimbel
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zimbel_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zimbelnoun

## Earlier version

- zimbel in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zimbel mean?

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

### How common is the noun zimbel?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.0002
1890 | 0.0002
1900 | 0.0002
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.0001

### How is the noun zimbel pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈtsɪmbl/
TSIM-buhl
/ˈzɪmbl/
ZIM-buhl

#### U.S. English

/ˈtsɪmb(ə)l/
TSIM-buhl
/ˈzɪmb(ə)l/
ZIM-buhl

### Where does the noun zimbel come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the noun zimbel is in the 1880s.

OED's earliest evidence for zimbel is from 1888, in the Musical World.

zimbel is a borrowing from German.

Etymons: German Zimbel.

### Nearby entries

1. zilladar, n. 1763–
2. Zil lane, n. 1985–
3. zilla parishad, n. 1957–
4. zillion, n. & adj. 1920–
5. zillionaire, n. 1926–
6. zillionth, n. & adj. 1940–
7. zimb, n. 1790–
8. Zimba, n. 1625–
9. Zimbabwe, n. 1891–
10. Zimbabwean, adj. & n. 1961–
11. zimbel, n.1888–
12. zimme, n. 1848–63
13. Zimmer, n. 1951–
14. zina, n. 1817–
15. zinc, n. 1651–
16. zinc, v. 1843–
17. zinc-air, adj. 1970–
18. Zincala, n. 1844–91
19. Zincalo, n. 1841–
20. zinc-alum, n. 1851–
21. zinc-amide, n. 1859–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from German.
Etymon: German Zimbel.
< German Zimbel (M. Praetorius 1618, or earlier), specific use of Zimbel kind of high-pitched percussion instrument using metal plates (Old High German zimbala kind of percussion instrument mentioned…
< German Zimbel (M. Praetorius 1618, or earlier), specific use of Zimbel kind of high-pitched percussion instrument using metal plates (Old High German zimbala kind of percussion instrument mentioned in the Old Testament, Middle High German zimbel kind of small, high-pitched bell) < classical Latin cymbalum (see cymbal n.).

Compare earlier cymbal n. 3.

### Notes

The plural form zimbeln is after the German plural form. The pronunciation with initial /ts/ reflects the pronunciation of the German word.

## Meaning & use

Music.

1. 1888–
   A compound organ stop having a relatively high pitch; = cymbal n. 3.
   1. 1888

      > Specification of the large organ at Wolfenbüttel... III. Choir...7. Zimbel, doubled.

      Musical World 12 May 370/1
   2. 1976

      > An exuberant finale contrasts the zimbel with the cornet.

      Gramophone October 628/3
   3. 1980

      > ‘Mixture’ was normally used to denote the Principal-scaled chorus Mixture as distinct from the high Zimbeln or the solo Cornets.

      New Grove Dictionary of Music vol. XIII. 791/1
   4. 1986

      > Various newly invented, extremely high-pitched Zimbels.

      J. Brombaugh in G. Stauffer & E. May, J. S. Bach as Organist (2000) 42
   organ-playing
   1. cornet 1660–
      A compound flue stop in an organ consisting usually of 8-foot, 4-foot, and 2-foot ranks together with two or more mixture ranks, sometimes…
   2. clarion c1670–
      A four-feet organ stop of quality of tone similar to that of the clarion.
   3. sesquialtera 1688–
      The name of an organ stop, consisting of several ranks of pipes, of a brilliant tone. Usually absol. as n.
   4. cornet stop 1722–
      A compound flue stop in an organ; = cornet, n.¹ I.2.
   5. sesquialter 1841–
      = sesquialtera, adj. 2.
   6. cymbal 1852–
      A kind of stop on an organ.
   7. harmonica 1852–
      Name given to different organ stops.
   8. plein jeu 1855–
      An organ stop or combination of stops producing a full chorus of montres (diapasons and principals) in octaves, plus fourniture (additional…
   9. sext 1855–76
      Music. rare. An organ stop of two ranks of pipes having an interval of a sixth between them. Obsolete.
   10. fourniture 1876–
       A powerful mixture stop on an organ, composed of octaves and quints; = furniture, n. 8.
   11. rauschpfeife 1876–
       In an organ: a kind of low-pitched mixture stop.
   12. tertian 1876–
       A mixture stop on an organ, consisting of a tierce and larigot combined.
   13. zimbel 1888–
       A compound organ stop having a relatively high pitch; = cymbal, n. 3.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈtsɪmbl/
TSIM-buhl
/ˈzɪmbl/
ZIM-buhl

### U.S. English

/ˈtsɪmb(ə)l/
TSIM-buhl
/ˈzɪmb(ə)l/
ZIM-buhl

###
Plural: zimbeln

### British English

/ˈtsɪmbəln/
TSIM-buhln

### U.S. English

/ˈtsɪmbəln/
TSIM-buhln

####

##### 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

### Inflections

Plural: zimbels, zimbeln ( British English /ˈtsɪmbəln/ (TSIM-buhln) , U.S. English /ˈtsɪmbəln/ (TSIM-buhln) )

### Variant forms

1. 1800s–
   zimbel
2. 1900s–
   zymbel

## Frequency

zimbel typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zimbel is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 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 zimbel, n., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.0002
1890 | 0.0002
1900 | 0.0002
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0001
2010 | 0.0001

zimbel, n. was revised in March 2021.

zimbel, n. was last modified in July 2023.