zested, adj.

zested
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zested_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zestedadjective

## Factsheet

### Where does the adjective zested come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective zested is in the mid 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zested is from 1769, in the writing of Oliver Goldsmith, author.

### How common is the adjective zested?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1770 | 0.0052
1780 | 0.0045
1790 | 0.0044
1800 | 0.0041
1810 | 0.0027
1820 | 0.0025
1830 | 0.0019
1840 | 0.0014
1850 | 0.0012
1860 | 0.0006
1870 | 0.0003
1880 | 0.0003
1890 | 0.00002
1900 | 0.00003
1910 | 0.00003
1920 | 0.00003
1930 | 0.00004
1940 | 0.00007
1950 | 0.00009
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

### Nearby entries

1. zero tillage, n. 1963–
2. zero tolerance, n. 1940–
3. zerovalent, adj. 1906–
4. zero waste, adj. & n. 1974–
5. zero-zero, adj. & n. 1930–
6. zerumbet, n. 1640–
7. zest, n.¹ 1674–
8. zest, n.² 1706
9. zest, v. 1702–
10. zest, int. 1705–22
11. zested, adj.1769–
12. zester, n. 1963–
13. zestful, adj. 1797–
14. zestfully, adv. 1843–
15. zestiness, n. 1912–
16. zesty, adj. 1826–
17. zeta, n.¹?a1425–
18. zeta, n.² 1706–1860
19. zetacism, n. 1860–
20. zeta function, n. 1879–
21. zeta-ic, adj. 1840–1927

## Meaning & use

1. 1769–
   See zest v.
   Stressed as ˈzested.
   1. 1769

      > One circumstance that might well..teach mankind to relish the beverage of virtue..above their most zested enjoyments.

      O. Goldsmith, Roman History vol. II. 74
   2. 1877

      > Ah, what a supper it must have been! Bountiful, zested, racy, rare.

      Harper's Magazine August 433/2
   3. 1919

      > Miss Matilda was aware of a slackening from the keen excitement and zested peril of their escape.

      J. Russel, Where Pavement Ends (1921) 80
   4. 2016

      > Slice the zested grapefruit in half and press gently onto the rim of the glass.

      S. Johansen, How to Hygge (2017) 154/1
   1. piquant 1645–
      Stimulating or agreeable to the mind or senses; fascinating; charming.
   2. poignant a1657–
      Stimulating to the mind, feelings, or passions; pleasantly or delightfully piquant. Now rare except as merged in later use of 2a.
   3. French 1682–
      With the implication of sexual adventurousness or explicitness. See also French letter, n., French tickler, n.
   4. flavorous 1697–
      Full of flavour; pleasing to the taste and smell, savoury; ‘fragrant, odorous’ (Johnson).
   5. zested 1769–
   6. zestful 1797–
      figurative. Full of zest; invigorating, stimulating, enjoyable; lively, spirited; = zesty, adj. 2. Cf. zest, n.¹ 3, 4.
   7. pungent 1850–
      Mentally stimulating or exciting; fascinating. Now rare.
   8. spicy 1853–
      Exciting, exhilarating.
   9. zesty 1853–
      figurative. Characterized by energy or vigour; lively, spirited; invigorating, stimulating. Cf. zest, n.¹ 3.
   10. juicy 1883–
       figurative. Suggestive, esp. in a sexual way; piquant, racy, sensational. colloquial.
   11. nutty 1894
       figurative. Pleasant, rich, full of zest; spicy or piquant in interest. Obsolete.
   12. sauced 1894–
       With up. Of food: embellished or made more flavoursome by the addition of a sauce; (figurative) that has been embellished or made fancy or showy in…
   13. colourful 1905–
       Full of or characterized by colour; esp. brightly coloured.
   14. zappy 1969–
       Lively, amusing, energetic; striking.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zested 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 zested, adj., 1770–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1770 | 0.0052
1780 | 0.0045
1790 | 0.0044
1800 | 0.0041
1810 | 0.0027
1820 | 0.0025
1830 | 0.0019
1840 | 0.0014
1850 | 0.0012
1860 | 0.0006
1870 | 0.0003
1880 | 0.0003
1890 | 0.00002
1900 | 0.00003
1910 | 0.00003
1920 | 0.00003
1930 | 0.00004
1940 | 0.00007
1950 | 0.00009
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

Originally published as part of the entry for zest, v.

zest, v. was revised in June 2018.