zayde, n.

zayde
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zayde_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2006

# zaydenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zayde mean?

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

### How common is the noun zayde?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1940 | 0.0007
1950 | 0.001
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.002
1990 | 0.0022
2000 | 0.0025
2010 | 0.0028

### How is the noun zayde pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzeɪdə/
ZAY-duh
/ˈzeɪdi/
ZAY-dee

#### U.S. English

/ˈzeɪdə/
ZAY-duh
/ˈzeɪdi/
ZAY-dee

### Where does the noun zayde come from?

Earliest known use

1940s

The earliest known use of the noun zayde is in the 1940s.

OED's earliest evidence for zayde is from 1946, in a translation by M. Hadas.

zayde is a borrowing from Yiddish.

Etymons: Yiddish zey'de.

### Nearby entries

1. zariba, n. 1849–
2. zariba, v. 1885–
3. zarnich, n. 1612–
4. Zarp, n. 1895–
5. zarzuela, n. 1888–
6. zat, n. 1934–
7. zatch, n. 1950–
8. zawiya, n. 1836–
9. zawn, n. 1865–
10. zayat, n. 1823–
11. zayde, n.1946–
12. zazen, n. 1727–
13. zazzy, adj. 1961–
14. Z band, n. 1950–
15. ZBB, n. 1976–
16. Z-bed, n. 1973–
17. Z-car, n. 1961–
18. Z-day, n. 1925–
19. Z-DNA, n. 1979–
20. ze, pron. 1864–
21. zea, n. 1562–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Yiddish.
Etymon: Yiddish zey'de.
< Yiddish zey'de grandfather < Polish dźiad grandfather, old man.

## Meaning & use

1. 1946–
   A grandfather; an elderly man. Frequently as a respectful form of address or term of endearment. Cf. bubbe n.
   1. 1946

      > Mendele's style..became the model for most of his successors, in Hebrew as well as Yiddish, and they honored him as the Zayde (‘Grandfather’).

      M. Hadas, translation of I. Elbogen, Cent. of Jewish Life iii. 113
   2. 1976

      > Grandad: A kiss for your Zaidy! How's the most ravishing granddaughter you could wish for?

      J. Rosenthal, Bar Mitzvah Boy in Three Award-winning Television Plays (1978) 32
   3. 1982

      > She turns and speaks to him in Yiddish, surprises herself by saying, ‘Zayde, tell me a story.’

      M. Waddington, Breaking Bread in Jerusalem in M. Waddington, Canadian Jewish Short Stories (1990) 55
   4. 2001

      > My Zeyde, my Orthodox grandfather, had threaded his way through this warren with me.

      S. Paretsky, Total Recall (2002) 513
   1. eldfather Old English–1487
      A grandfather; a forefather in general.
   2. mother-father Old English
      A maternal grandfather.
   3. grandsire c1300–
      = grandfather, n. 1. Now archaic.
   4. aiel a1325–
      A grandfather. Also: a forefather, an ancestor.
   5. belsire a1325–
      A grandfather. Also: a forefather, an ancestor.
   6. grandfather 1424–
      The father of one's father or mother.
   7. belfather c1440–83
      Grandfather.
   8. goodsire?c1450–
      A grandfather. Cf. gutcher, n.
   9. fore-grandsire 1513
      A grandfather; = Latin avus.
   10. gutcher 1523–
       A grandfather. Cf. goodsire, n.
   11. granfer 1564–
       One's grandfather; a grandfather; (also) an elderly man. Also as a form of address.
   12. lucky-dad 1610–1862
       A grandfather; = lucky-daddy, n.
   13. greatsire 1615–
       a. A forefather (in early use spec. Adam), a grandfather (archaic); b. an animal's grandsire.
   14. granddaddy 1648–
       = grandad, n. Also figurative. Now chiefly U.S. and colloquial.
   15. grandpapa 1680–
       = grandpa, n. Also in extended use.
   16. grandada 1699–
       = grandad, n.
   17. lucky-daddy 1706–
       A grandfather; cf. lucky minnie, n.
   18. grandad 1764–
       One's grandfather. Also used as a familiar form of address to an elderly man.
   19. grandpa?1785–
       One's grandfather. Also used as a familiar form of address to one's grandfather or to an elderly man. Also used before a person's surname (or…
   20. grandpappy 1857–
       = grandpa, n. Also in extended use.
   21. grandpop 1860–
       = grandpa, n. Also in extended use.
   22. abuelo 1876–
       In Spanish-speaking contexts: a grandfather; (more generally) an elderly man. Also as a familiar title or form of address.
   23. tadcu 1876–
       One's grandfather; a grandfather. Cf. taid, n., mamgu, n.
   24. taid 1887–
       One's grandfather; a grandfather. Cf. tadcu, n., nain, n.¹
   25. dada 1888–
       A paternal grandfather; (more generally) a grandfather. Frequently as a respectful form of address.
   26. gramp 1890–
       An informal term for: one's grandfather.
   27. grampy 1904–
       An informal term for: one's grandfather; = gramp, n.
   28. lolo 1934–
       One's grandfather. Also used as a respectful title or form of address for an elderly man. Cf. lola, n.
   29. gramps 1935–
       An informal term for: one's grandfather; = gramp, n. Also in extended use, as a form of address to (or title for) any older man.
   30. zayde 1946–
       A grandfather; an elderly man. Frequently as a respectful form of address or term of endearment. Cf. bubbe, n.
   31. opa 1948–
       Originally among German and Dutch communities: a grandfather. Frequently as a form of address.
   32. opi 1988–
       Originally among German communities: a grandfather. Frequently as an affectionate form of address.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzeɪdə/
ZAY-duh
/ˈzeɪdi/
ZAY-dee

### U.S. English

/ˈzeɪdə/
ZAY-duh
/ˈzeɪdi/
ZAY-dee

####

##### 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.

1. 1900s–
   zaida, zaide, zaidee, zaideh, zaider, zaidy, zayde, zaydeh, zayder, zaydy, zeida, zeyde, zeydeh, zida

#### 2. Also with capital initial.

## Frequency

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

zayde 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zayde, n., 1940–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1940 | 0.0007
1950 | 0.001
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.002
1990 | 0.0022
2000 | 0.0025
2010 | 0.0028

zayde, n. was first published in December 2006.

zayde, n. was last modified in September 2024.