zephyry, adj.

zephyry
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zephyry_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zephyryadjective

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zephyry mean?

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

### How common is the adjective zephyry?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1820 | 0.0014
1830 | 0.0014
1840 | 0.0013
1850 | 0.0012
1860 | 0.001
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0005
1900 | 0.0004
1910 | 0.0003
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.00005
1980 | 0.00006
1990 | 0.00006
2000 | 0.00004
2010 | 0.00004

### Where does the adjective zephyry come from?

Earliest known use

late 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective zephyry is in the late 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zephyry is from 1791, in the writing of John Learmont.

### Nearby entries

1. zephyret, n. 1777–1881
2. zephyr flower, n.?1829–
3. zephyr-gale, n. 1596–1901
4. zephyrian, adj. 1661–
5. zephyrine, adj. & n. 1819–
6. zephyring, adj. 1821–
7. zephyrless, adj. a1821–
8. zephyr-like, adv. & adj. 1765–
9. zephyr lily, n.?1877–
10. zephyrous, adj. a1750–
11. zephyry, adj.1791–
12. Zepp, n. 1914–
13. Zepp, v. 1914–
14. Zeppelin, n. 1896–
15. zeppelin, v. 1910–
16. Zeppelined, adj. 1915–
17. Zeppelining, n. 1915–
18. Zeppelinist, n. 1912–
19. Zeppelinistic, adj. 1930–
20. Zeppelinite, n. 1909–
21. zeppole, n. 1835–

## Meaning & use

1. 1791–
   Of the nature of a zephyr or light breeze; characterized by or affected by zephyrs.
   Stressed as ˈzephyry.
   1. 1791

      > The Zephiry Summer breeze.

      J. Learmont, Poems Pastoral 188
   2. 1880

      > In zephyry hay-fields.

      A. H. Swinton, Insect Variety 169
   3. 1973

      > Floating through breezy, warm city climates. Country climates. Zephyry. Weightless. Gauzy. Airy.

      N. Y. Times 21 May 7/2 (advertisement)
   weather
   1. light a1398–
      Of wind, a breeze, etc.: gentle, not strong in force. Cf. moderate, adj. A.1b, strong, adj. 13a.
   2. plain a1425–35
      figurative. Of the wind: calm, gentle. Obsolete.
   3. small 1542–
      Of a wind: light, slight, gentle.
   4. soft-footed 1603–
      Having a soft or light tread. poetic. Used figuratively of the passage of time or the movement of incorporeal or ethereal things.
   5. supple 1648–
      literary. Of a wind: blowing gently, light and soft.
   6. favonian 1656–
      Of or pertaining to the west wind; hence, favourable, gentle, propitious.
   7. zephyrian 1661–
      Of, relating to, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrean, adj.
   8. slack 1670–
      Of wind, or tide: Blowing, or running, with very little strength or speed.
   9. zephyrous a1750–
      Of, relating to, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrean, adj., zephyrian, adj.
   10. zephyry 1791–
       Of the nature of a zephyr or light breeze; characterized by or affected by zephyrs.
   11. zephyrean 1793–
       Of the nature of, or reminiscent of, a zephyr or light breeze; cf. zephyrian, adj.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zephyry 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 zephyry, adj., 1820–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1820 | 0.0014
1830 | 0.0014
1840 | 0.0013
1850 | 0.0012
1860 | 0.001
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0005
1890 | 0.0005
1900 | 0.0004
1910 | 0.0003
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.00005
1980 | 0.00006
1990 | 0.00006
2000 | 0.00004
2010 | 0.00004

Originally published as part of the entry for zephyr, n.

zephyr, n. was revised in June 2018.