<classical LatinZephyrus west wind <ancient GreekΖέϕυρος any westerly wind, due west wind, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to ζόϕος dark, west, although this poses formal problems…
<classical LatinZephyrus west wind <ancient GreekΖέϕυρος any westerly wind, due west wind, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to ζόϕος dark, west, although this poses formal problems.
Notes
Compare Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle Frenchzephirus, Middle Frenchzepherus (early 13th cent.). With the β forms compare Middle Frenchzephire, zephyre (late 14th cent.; Frenchzéphyr, zéphire), Spanishcéfiro (15th cent. as zefiro, zephiro), Portuguesezéfiro (a1580 as zephyro), Italianzefiro (beginning of the 14th cent.; late 13th cent. as zeffiro), and also Dutchzefier (1553), Middle High Germanzephirus (GermanZephyr, †Zephir).
Specific senses
With sense 1b compare Middle Frenchzephire, zephyre, Frenchzéphyr, in same sense (1515).
With sense 2b compare Frenchzéphyr, zéphir (1824 or earlier, frequently attributively in drap zéphyr).
With sense 3 compare scientific Latinzephyrus, specific name (1870).
In sense 4 after French (now hist.) zéphir, zéphyr (1843 in this sense; 1831 in plural Zéphirs as the name of one of the three French battalions of light infantry which were made up of North African soldiers).
Meaning & use
1.a.
Old English–
The west wind, frequently personified; (Greek Mythology) the god of the west wind. Cf. Favoniusn.
Fauonius, þe westerne wynde..haþ bysides hym tweye wyndes. Þe on hatte Circius, þe west northwest wynde, þe oþir hatte Zephirus, þe west souþwest wynde.
J. Trevisa, translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De Proprietatibus Rerum (British Library Add. MS. 27944) (1975) vol. I.xi. iii. 574
[Composed a1398]
c1400(?c1380)
Syþen he..sayez vnte Zeferus þat he syfle warme.
Patience l. 470 (Middle English Dictionary)
[Composed ?c1380]
c1405–95(c1387–95)
Zephirus..wt his sweete breeth.
G. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales Prologue (Hengwrt MS.) (2003) l. 5
[Composed c1387–95]
1523
There blew in that gardynge a soft piplyng colde Enbrethyng of zepherus wt his pleasant wynde.
J. Skelton, Goodly Garlande of Laurell sig. C.ijv
1594
Zephyrus sweete smelling blast.
1st Part of Raigne of Selimus (ad fin.)
c1616
Art thou perhaps that purest breathing aire, Sweet Zephirus?
R. C., Certaine Poems in Times' Whistle (1871) 116
1667
With voice Milde, as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes.
J. Milton, Paradise Lostv. 16
1712
The Zephyrus, the West-Wind, blows from Thracia.
J. Ozell, translation of A. Dacier, Life of Homer 18 in translation of Homer, Iliadvol. I
1774
Zephyrus, or the West Wind.
Ambulator 65
1821
Her marriage with the gentle Zephyrus must have singularly promoted the welfare of her delicate subjects.
New Monthly Magazinevol. 2 393
1898
Like a gossamer puffed by summer Zephyrus.
G. Meredith, Letters (1912) vol. II. 498
1937
Is Zephyrus more light on the bough, Apeliota more light on the almond branch?
E. Pound, Fifth Decad of Cantos xlvii. 38
2014
Blow sweet Zephyrus, usher in spring.
Gloucestershire Echo (Nexis) 19 April 11
β forms
1567
Breathing from the mouth of Zephire the ayre of health.
G. Fenton, translation of M. Bandello, Certaine Tragicall Discourses f. 226v
1583
The setting of the Sun, and shutting in of nighte, belong to Zephyr.
B. Melbancke, Philotimus (new edition) sig. Zivv
1594
Sweet Myrh-breathing Zephyre.
M. Drayton, Ideas Mirrour sig. C3
1598
When the hollow floode of ayre in Zephyres cheeks doth swel.
G. Chapman, translation of Homer, Seauen Bookes of Iliadesvii. 120
1645
Zephir with Aurora playing, As he met her once a Maying.
J. Milton, L'Allegro in Poems 31
1750
Regions in which no wind is heard but the gentle Zephyr.
S. Johnson, Rambler No. 80. ⁋3
1823
Words more soft than Zephyr.
‘B. Cornwall’, Flood of Thessalyi. 89
1920
Fevered brows of prisoners forlorn,..stirring 'neath sweet Zephyr's soft caress.
J. Farnol, Geste of Duke Jocelyn vi. 109
1998
On rare occasion, the wind god, Zephyr, smiles upon me.
St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 21 May 13
Any of various lightweight or thin articles of clothing or accessories, such as a light shawl, scarf, or coat; (in later use) spec. a light shirt worn by a sportsperson.
1774
Negligees of pale lutestring,..with tassels and zephyrs in fancy, or of muslin.
Westminster Magazine May 259/1
1821
Just received from New-York—20 dozen elegant French Scarfs (or Zephyrs,) elegant patterns, which are going for the low price of $1 each.
Boston Daily Advertiser 22 May 2/5 (advertisement)
1830
Some wear little square shawls of soft crape, called zephyrs.
Lady's Magazine 31 May 284/2
1843
He was dressed in a coat called a Zephyr.
E. Fitzgerald, Letter (1980) vol. I. 385
1887
When the athlete has got a pair of the best shoes, a zephyr, and a pair of silk or merino drawers,..he has got all the stock-in-trade required to win half-a-dozen championships.
M. Shearman, Athletics & Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 68
1891
He sat upon the sofa, where my hat, My wanton Zephyr, rested on its rim.
R. F. Murray, Scarlet Gown 6
1927
[Ozarks]Zephyr,..a woman's wrap. Usually a knitted or crocheted diamond-shaped thing worn over the head and shoulders.
Dialect Notesvol. 5 479
1987
We wore black gym-shoes, rugger zephyrs and trousers.
R. Fiennes, Living Dangerously iii. 27
2012
She gave an interview to the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar..while posing slinkily in a zephyr of lace.
A very fine, light, cotton gingham cloth, used esp. for women's dresses; a piece or variety of this. Now chiefly historical.
1819
Gauze and zephyrs for your picture frames and looking-glasses, sir.
Blackwood's Magazine April 487/1
1863
[To] measure a yard of calico..or choose a shade of zephyr.
B. Taylor, Hannah Thurstonvol. I. 128
1898
Another item of interest in the Wash Dress Goods Department, is Lace Zephyrs in Gingham effects.
Church Standard 5 March 620/1 (advertisement)
1905
I'm sorting up zephyrs to-morrow, Sir.
H. G. Wells, Kippsi. vi. §1
1940
Scarfs for your fall ensemble. Ascots and longs in chiffon, wool, fine zephyrs and satin.
Wellsboro (Pennsylvania) Agitator 16 October 4/4 (advertisement)
2008
He'd never lost his fascination with fabric. He knew all the fancy names and adjectives—organdy, tulle, crepe de chine, damask, moire, zephyr, batiste.
‘A blue cotton cloth formerly made at Nellore in India, and largely exported to the West Indies, where it was the usual slave cloth’ (E. H. Knight Pra…
More fully zephyr anglewing. A North American comma butterfly, now usually regarded as a hoary comma of the subspecies Polygonia gracilis zephyrus.
Formerly treated as a separate species, P. zephyrus.
1835
Zephyr butterfly seen.
E. Shore, Journal 22 April (1891) 107
1898
Grapta zephyrus.., (The Zephyr).
W. J. Holland, Butterfly Book 166
1950
Polygonia zephyrus Edw... The Zephyr is a Rocky Mountain member of the angle-wing clan.
J. S. Garth, Butterflies of Grand Canyon National Park 26
1992
The Zephyr Anglewing is a common butterfly in our region.
T. C. Emmel et al., Florissant Butterflies 71
4.
1847–
A member of the Bataillons d'Infanterie Légère d'Afrique, a light infantry corps in the French army serving in North Africa, made up of convicted criminals who had not yet performed military service, and serving soldiers assigned for breaches of discipline. Now historical.
The corps was formed in 1832 and disbanded in 1972.
1847
‘Zephyr’ is a cant term for a particular (penal) corps in the French ‘army of Africa’... Even Frenchmen acknowledge that the cruelty of the ‘Zephyrs’ surpasses belief.
E. Plunkett, Past & Future British Navy (ed. 2) iv. 96
1854
Zephyrs is a nickname given in Algeria to a corps which is recruited from..the French army.
Household Wordsvol. 8 145/1
1882
If a zouave is as brave as a lion, it is safe to say that a ‘Zephyr’ is as brave as two.
A. de Vervins, Mus. Mosaic 26
1911
Service with the ‘Zephyrs’, the malefactors of the French army.
Blackwood's Magazine May 595/2
1998
Replaced by men of the African battalion, who were also designated by the names of the Joyful or the Zephyrs.
W. E. J. Tips, translation of P. Neis, Sino-Vietnamese Border Demarcation viii. 47
Any of various sweet or savoury dishes having a light or fluffy texture, typically produced by whipping egg whites to a foam, as a meringue, soufflé, etc.
1862
These zephyrs must be dredged over with sugar previously to their being put in the oven.
C. E. Francatelli, Royal English & Foreign Confectioner xix. 187
?1894
Zephyrs, these might almost be described under the heading of Soufflés.
T. F. Garrett et al., Encycl. Pract. Cookery Division VIII. 805/1
1918
Corn Zephyrs. Mix with the cornmeal mush left from breakfast enough hot milk to make thin enough to whip... Whip in the stiffly beaten white of one egg.
B. E. L. Stockbridge, Liberty Cook Book 159
1985
Cunningham and John Hudspeth, the proprietor, did try a fanciful little breakfast modernity, a kind of soufflé called lemon zephyr.
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
1.
α.
Old English
zefferus
Middle English
zeferus, zeforus
Middle English–1500s
zepherus
Middle English–1600s
zephirus
Middle English–
zephyrus
β.
1500s–1600s
zephire, zephyre
1500s–1700s
zephir
1500s–
zephyr
1600s
zepher
2. Also with capital initial.
Frequency
zephyr typically occurs about 0.1 times per million words in modern written English.
zephyr is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 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 zephyr, n., 1750–2010
* 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
1750
0.39
1760
0.51
1770
0.67
1780
0.88
1790
0.98
1800
1.1
1810
1.1
1820
0.99
1830
0.92
1840
0.89
1850
0.84
1860
0.81
1870
0.76
1880
0.69
1890
0.63
1900
0.56
1910
0.48
1920
0.39
1930
0.31
1940
0.25
1950
0.2
1960
0.16
1970
0.13
1980
0.12
1990
0.11
2000
0.11
2010
0.12
Frequency of zephyr, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
attributive, with the sense ‘reminiscent of a zephyr (in sense 1b), ‘mild and gentle’, as zephyr breath, zephyr sigh, etc.
Frequently used metaphorically to refer to a breeze, or the sound produced by a breeze.
1790
The zephyr breath of wisdom and moderation is heard with reluctance.
Argus 6 January
1818
Where every zephyr-sigh pouts, and endows Her lips with music for the welcoming.
J. Keats, Endymioni. 21
1842
Nor was the atmosphere quite free from zephyr whisperings of the thirty beds which had just been cleared away.
C. Dickens, American Notesvol. II. ii. 61
1883
With zephyr-hiss, the ripples glide laughing to the shore.
P. W. Norris, Calumet of Coteau 135
1912
The zephyr touch restrained him—his bride was claiming the nuptial kiss.
Saturday Evening Post 18 May 6/2
1917
We feel their soft touch like a zephyr caress.
E. H. Hornbrook, Homespun Verses 26
2011
A zephyr breath rakes the lightweight cloak from her shoulders and ripples the feather ornament nestled in her hair.
O. Andem, Patience becomes Lady iv. 32
C.1.b.
1638–
Instrumental (in senses 1a and 1b), as zephyr-fanned, zephyr-kissed, etc.
1638
Sweet sleepe disdaines not countrie clownes low sheads, And shadie bankes, and Zephyre-fanned meades [Latin Zephyris agitata tempe].
H. Rider, translation of Horace, Odes & Epodes 56
1796
Ere from thy zephyr-haunted brink I turn.
S. T. Coleridge, Poems on Various Subjects 28
c1840
The zephyr-kissed grass.
E. Cook, Spring v
1867
The zephyr-cooled eminences of cloud-space.
H. R. Helper, Nojoque iii. 135
1896
Over there in the zephyr-blown forest, Where the pine trees have buried their dead.
C. E. Prentiss, Sunshine & Shadow 88
1912
The melody of their bells mingles..with the musical cadence of zephyr-moved foliage.
E. Staley, Lords & Ladies of Italian Lakes iv. 196
1969
Removal by divine favor to a zephyr-warmed land of bliss.
Zeitschrift f. vergleichende Sprachforschungvol. 83 69
2002
You are swooping among the lime-green trees against the zephyr-swept clouds.
E. Wong, Boid & Oskar 36
C.2.
1809–
attributive. Designating a garment, fabric, or yarn which is especially fine or lightweight; (also) designating an article made of zephyr (sense 2b). Now chiefly historical and rare.
1809
Elegant Feather Tippets, and Zephyr Scarfs, tinted and shaded with various hues.
Morning Post 2 October
1849
Zephyr Silk Barège... This is one of those light and elegant fabrics which have done so much to reduce the demand for the higher class of light printed goods.
Journal Design August 143
1852
We have Paletôts,..Zephyr wrappers,..and a host of other garments.
Household Wordsvol. 4 398/2
1858
Zephyr-cloth, a kind of kerseymere made in Belgium; a waterproof fabric.
P. L. Simmonds, Dictionary of Trade Products
1858
Zephyr-shawl, a kind of thin light worsted and cotton embroidered shawl.
P. L. Simmonds, Dictionary of Trade Products
1864
Zephyr yarn, or worsted, a fine kind of yarn or worsted, called also Berlin wool.
Webster's American Dictionary of English Language
1882
Zephyr Ginghams or Prints. These are pretty delicate textiles, resembling a cotton batiste. Zephyr Merino Yarn. The term employed by the wool staplers of Germany to signify what is usually called German or Berlin. Zephyr Shirting..a kind of gauze flannel, having a silk warp.
S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward, Dictionary of Needlework 528/1
1883
Two sisters in blue zephyr gowns.
Truth 31 May 768/2
1888
Two pairs of zephyr stays,..besides a few pairs of ordinary stays.
M. Bradshaw, Indian Outfits 31
1932
Thicker wools of sports and zephyr types are good for beginners.
D. C. Minter, Modern Needlecraft 67/1
1979
Mr. Wilks, the enterprising owner of Wilks' Warehouse in Regent street in London, began importing patterns and the brilliant coloured ‘Zephyr’ wool direct from Berlin.