<GermanZechstein (16th cent.) < a first element of uncertain origin (see note) + Steinstonen.…
<GermanZechstein (16th cent.) < a first element of uncertain origin (see note) + Steinstonen.
Notes
The first element of the German noun is unclear. It may be zech (now regional), variant of zähtoughadj., with allusion to the consistency of the stratum. However, since the stratum is found in mines, it could also be Zeche mine (Middle High Germanzech, zeche; already in Old High German as zehha in sense ‘guild’), cognate with Old Englishteoh race, band, company, Old Icelandicté permission, order (further etymology uncertain; perhaps ultimately < the same Germanic base as teev.2).
Meaning & use
Geology.
1798–
Limestone of the Upper Permian period forming strata underlying parts of northern Germany, Poland, and north-eastern England; the series of sedimentary rocks containing such limestone.
Zechstein Seanoun [after GermanZechsteinmeer (1851 or earlier)] (the name of) a former sea on the bed of which these rocks were deposited.
1798
Small cellular Limestone; (Zechstein [German Zechstein]) from Eisleben in Mansfeld.
G. Mitchell, translation of D. L. G. Karsten, Descr. Minerals in Leskean Mus.vol. II. 403
1823
The miners and geognosts of Germany..distinguish compact limestone (zechstein) from the copper-slate which it immediately covers, and the superposed gypsum and fetid limestone. I call by the term zechstein the entire group.
translation of A. von Humboldt, Geognostical Essay on Superposition of Rocks 299
1855
The zechstein and rauchwacke represent on a greater scale the yellow magnesian and upper laminated limestone of the north of England.
J. Phillips, Manual of Geology viii. 251
1884
When the Kupferschiefer was being deposited over the floor of the basin, the newly submerged faulted area must have been covered by the Zechstein sea.
Mineral Magazinevol. 6 96
1960
Part of the Zechstein Sea..covered northern Europe.
R. Casanova, Fossil Collecting (1970) iv. 78
1979
Beneath NE England, in the North Sea and in Germany, Zechstein deposits comprise five major sedimentary cycles, each commencing in shelf carbonates and grading up into evaporites.
R. Anderton et al., Dynamic Stratigraphy of British Isles xiii. 185/1
2006
Underneath the Buntsandstein lies a marine limestone known as the Zechstein, found across Europe and into England.
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.
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.
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
Also with lower-case initial.
Frequency
Zechstein typically occurs about 0.08 times per million words in modern written English.
Zechstein is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 Zechstein, n., 1790–2010
* 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
1790
0.0077
1800
0.024
1810
0.039
1820
0.053
1830
0.061
1840
0.07
1850
0.073
1860
0.076
1870
0.071
1880
0.061
1890
0.05
1900
0.051
1910
0.047
1920
0.047
1930
0.052
1940
0.064
1950
0.076
1960
0.081
1970
0.076
1980
0.075
1990
0.083
2000
0.084
2010
0.072
Zechstein, n. was revised in June 2018.
Zechstein, n. was last modified in September 2024.