Zolaism, n.

zolaism
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zolaism_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# Zolaismnoun

## Earlier version

- Zolaism in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zolaism mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.008
1890 | 0.0083
1900 | 0.0084
1910 | 0.0082
1920 | 0.0089
1930 | 0.0082
1940 | 0.0078
1950 | 0.0068
1960 | 0.0058
1970 | 0.0048
1980 | 0.0039
1990 | 0.0035
2000 | 0.0027
2010 | 0.002

### How is the noun Zolaism pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzəʊlərɪz(ə)m/

### Where does the noun Zolaism come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

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

OED's earliest evidence for Zolaism is from 1882, in the Athenaeum.

From a proper name, combined with an English element.

Etymons: proper name Zola, ‑ism suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. Zoilous, adj. 1577–
2. Zoilus, n. 1565–
3. zoisite, n. 1805–
4. zoism, n. 1900–
5. zoist, n. 1843–
6. zoistic, adj. 1849–
7. zoite, n. 1963–
8. -zoite, comb. form
9. zol, n. 1946–
10. Zolaesque, adj. 1886–
11. Zolaism, n.1882–
12. Zolaist, n. 1886–
13. Zolaize, v. 1886–
14. Zollinger–Ellison syndrome, n. 1956–
15. Zöllner, n. 1890–
16. zollverein, n. 1843–
17. zolotnik, n. 1783–
18. zombie, n. 1788–
19. zombie apocalypse, n. 1982–
20. zombied, adj. 1972–
21. zombie-esque, adj. 1946–

## Etymology

### Summary

From a proper name, combined with an English element.
Etymons: proper name Zola, ‑ism suffix.
< the name Zola + ‑ism suffix.

## Meaning & use

1. 1882–
   A literary style characteristic of the French novelist Émile Zola (1840–1902), whose works are marked by realistic treatment of the rougher sides of human life.
   1. 1882

      > A particular form of Zolaism, much in vogue at this moment.

      Athenæum 30 December 875/3
   2. 1886

      > Set the maiden fancies wallowing in the troughs of Zolaism.

      Lord Tennyson, Locksley Hall Sixty Years After 21
   literature
   1. Marlowism 1593
      The blasphemy or atheism of which Marlowe was accused in a number of late 16th-cent. documents.
   2. Rabelaism 1803–65
      The characteristic style or attitude of Rabelais.
   3. Johnsonianism 1807–
      An elaborate, literary style of language, speech, or writing, as used by or characteristic of Samuel Johnson, characterized by the use of many…
   4. Johnsonism 1807–
      A phrase or expression characteristic of, or used by, Samuel Johnson; (also) style of language, speech, or writing characteristic of Johnson (see…
   5. Boswellism 1825–
      The characteristic manner or style of Boswell as a biographer.
   6. Swiftianism 1826–
      A piece of writing or an expression characteristic of Swift.
   7. Walter Scottism 1835–
      An idiom or mode of expression characteristic of the writings of Scott; the ideas, style, etc. of Scott.
   8. Carlylism 1841–
      The characteristic literary manner or teachings of Carlyle.
   9. Voltairism 1841–
      The body of opinions or views expressed by Voltaire; the mocking and sceptical attitude characteristic of these.
   10. Macaulayism 1846–
       An example of the discourse, style, or diction characteristic of Macaulay.
   11. Voltairianism 1848–
       = Voltairism, n.
   12. Zolaism 1882–
       A literary style characteristic of the French novelist Émile Zola (1840–1902), whose works are marked by realistic treatment of the rougher sides of…
   13. Rabelaisianism 1886–
       The characteristic style or attitude of Rabelais or his writings; bawdiness, vulgarity; earthy humour. Also: a Rabelaisian feature or characteristic.
   14. Brontëism 1887–
       A quality characteristic of the Brontës (see also -ism, suffix affix 2).
   15. Arnoldism 1892–
       Doctrine, theory, or practice formed after the precepts and example of either Thomas Arnold or his son Matthew.
   16. Kiplingism 1898–
       Views or opinions or style of expression characteristic of Rudyard Kipling (see Kiplingese, n.).
   17. Shavianism 1905–
       The tenets or a characteristic saying of G. B. Shaw; (also) a nonce-word in Shaw's writings.
   18. Menckenism 1922–
       An idiom or mode of expression coined by, or reminiscent of the style of, Mencken.
   19. Sitwellism 1922–
       The style or behaviour of the Sitwells or their circle (see Sitwellian, adj.); something characteristic or reminiscent of this.
   20. Pirandellism 1925–
       The theatrical style or method of Pirandello; a theatrical style or method imitating or reminiscent of this.
   21. Shavianismus 1927–
       = Shavianism, n.
   22. Proustery 1928–
       Proustian manner or style.
   23. Wodehousian 1931–
       A character typical of Wodehouse's works, esp. his comic fiction. rare.
   24. Waughism 1934–
       a. The ideas or style characteristic of Waugh, or those portrayed in his novels; b. a word or expression characteristic of Waugh.
   25. Snovianism 1966–
       The beliefs or theories of C. P. Snow.
   26. Orwellianism 1967–
       = Orwellism, n.
   27. Pinterism 1967–
       A literary device or effect characteristic of Pinter; a laconic or brooding style; the quality of being Pinteresque.
   28. Orwellism 1970–
       Something characteristic or reminiscent of the totalitarian social and political organization portrayed in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four (1949); spec.…
   29. Pinterishness 1970–
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzəʊlərɪz(ə)m/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

Zolaism 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 Zolaism, 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 | 0.008
1890 | 0.0083
1900 | 0.0084
1910 | 0.0082
1920 | 0.0089
1930 | 0.0082
1940 | 0.0078
1950 | 0.0068
1960 | 0.0058
1970 | 0.0048
1980 | 0.0039
1990 | 0.0035
2000 | 0.0027
2010 | 0.002

Zolaism, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

Zolaism, n. was last modified in December 2024.