zubrowka, n.

zubrowka
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zubrowka_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1993; not fully revised

# zubrowkanoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zubrowka mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0003
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

### How is the noun zubrowka pronounced?

#### British English

/ʒᵿˈbruːfkə/
/zᵿˈbrɒvkə/

### Where does the noun zubrowka come from?

Earliest known use

1910s

The earliest known use of the noun zubrowka is in the 1910s.

OED's earliest evidence for zubrowka is from 1916, in the writing of M. C. Lethbridge.

zubrowka is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Polish. Partly a borrowing from Russian.

Etymons: Polish żubrówka; Russian zubrovka.

### Nearby entries

1. Zouave, n. 1848–
2. zouk, n. 1986–
3. zounds, v. 1680
4. zounds, int. a1593–
5. Zou-Zou, n. 1860–
6. zowie, int. 1902–
7. zoysia, n. 1965–
8. ZPG, n. 1970–
9. Zr, n. 1814–
10. zubr, n. 1763–
11. zubrowka, n.1916–
12. zucarine, adj. a1425
13. zucca, n. 1818–
14. zucchetto, n. 1853–
15. zucchini, n. 1916–
16. zuche, n. 1358–1676
17. Zuckerkandl, n. 1910–
18. zufolo, n. 1724–
19. zug, n. 1899–
20. zugtrompete, n. 1978–
21. Zugunruhe, n. 1950–

## Etymology

### Summary

Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Polish. Partly a borrowing from Russian.
Etymons: Polish żubrówka; Russian zubrovka.
< Polish żubrówka, Russian zubrovka, derived forms of Polish żubr, Russian zubr European bison. Compare zubr n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1916–
   Vodka flavoured with the aromatic, sweet-smelling stalks of either of two grasses of the genus Anthoxanthum (see bison grass n. 2).
   A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
   1. 1916

      > ‘What shall it be?’ I queried, as we stood at the zakouski table. ‘Vodka or zubrovka?’

      M. C. Lethbridge, Russ. Chaps 99
   2. 1944

      > A tear of zubrovka could do Monsieur no harm. It's well known to be very good for the kidneys. We have just received a consignment from Poland.

      W. S. Maugham, Razor's Edge v. 193
   3. 1970

      > That retractable bar..[is] stocked with everything from absinthe to zubrovka.

      ‘E. Queen’, Last Woman i. 15
   4. 1990

      > Zubrowka owes its specific delicate flavour to bison grass which grows only in the Bialowieza Forest of Eastern Poland.

      Jazz FM No. 1. (advertisement) (recto rear cover)
   drink
   1. zubrowka 1916–
      Vodka flavoured with the aromatic, sweet-smelling stalks of either of two grasses of the genus Anthoxanthum (see bison grass, n. 2). A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
   2. Smirnoff 1948–
      The proprietary name of a brand of vodka.
   3. Stolichnaya 1966–
      The proprietary name of a variety of Russian vodka.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ʒᵿˈbruːfkə/
/zᵿˈbrɒvkə/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also zubrovka.

## Frequency

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

zubrowka 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 zubrowka, n., 1950–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0003
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

zubrowka, n. was first published in 1993; not fully revised.

zubrowka, n. was last modified in March 2025.