zabranoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zabra mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zabra. 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 zabra?
| 1750 | 0.061 |
| 1760 | 0.049 |
| 1770 | 0.041 |
| 1780 | 0.035 |
| 1790 | 0.02 |
| 1800 | 0.019 |
| 1810 | 0.0014 |
| 1820 | 0.0016 |
| 1830 | 0.0025 |
| 1840 | 0.0028 |
| 1850 | 0.003 |
| 1860 | 0.0036 |
| 1870 | 0.004 |
| 1880 | 0.0033 |
| 1890 | 0.0048 |
| 1900 | 0.0042 |
| 1910 | 0.0043 |
| 1920 | 0.0045 |
| 1930 | 0.005 |
| 1940 | 0.0052 |
| 1950 | 0.0054 |
| 1960 | 0.0041 |
| 1970 | 0.0039 |
| 1980 | 0.0038 |
| 1990 | 0.0037 |
| 2000 | 0.0028 |
| 2010 | 0.002 |
How is the noun zabra pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zabra come from?
Earliest known use
early 1500s
The earliest known use of the noun zabra is in the early 1500s.
OED's earliest evidence for zabra is from 1523, in the writing of T. Wolsey.
zabra is a borrowing from Spanish.
Nearby entries
- 900 number, n.1977–
- 911, n.1968–
- 999, n.1937–
- Z, n.Old English–
- 'Z, adj.
- za, n.1968–
- zaatar, n.1917–
- zabaglione, n.1899–
- zabernism, n.1916–21
- zabernize, v.1914
- zabra, n.1523–
- zabuton, n.1879–
- zac, n.1898–
- 'zackly | 'zactly, adv.1886–
- zad, n.1669–
- Zadokite, n. & adj.1910–
- zadruga, n.1887–
- zaffre | zaffer, n.1662–
- zaftig, adj.1921–
- zafu, n.1965–
- zag, n., adv., & v.1793–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1523–A small vessel used off the coasts of Spain and Portugal.
- 1523
That the Emperour..do sende also 2 zabres of the portage of 30 or 40 ton a pece.
T. Wolsey in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) vol. VI. 118 - 1588
The Zabra Augusta, of 166 tunnes.
D. Archdeacon, translation of True Disc. Armie King of Spaine 19 - 1589
Of Gallions, Hulkes, Pataches, Zabres, Galeasses, and Gallies 130.
R. Greene, Spanish Masquerado sig. D2v - 1607
Our Galeons, Galeasses, Zabraes, Gallies.
T. Dekker, Whore of Babylon sig. H4 - 1860
Of the tenders and zabras, seventeen were lost.
J. L. Motley, History of United Netherlands vol. II. xix. 507 - 1867
Zumbra, a Spanish skiff or yawl.
W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher, Sailor's Word-book
Pronunciation
British English
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
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 1500s zabre, azabra, 1800s zumbra.Frequency
zabra typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zabra is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zabra, 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 | 0.061 |
| 1760 | 0.049 |
| 1770 | 0.041 |
| 1780 | 0.035 |
| 1790 | 0.02 |
| 1800 | 0.019 |
| 1810 | 0.0014 |
| 1820 | 0.0016 |
| 1830 | 0.0025 |
| 1840 | 0.0028 |
| 1850 | 0.003 |
| 1860 | 0.0036 |
| 1870 | 0.004 |
| 1880 | 0.0033 |
| 1890 | 0.0048 |
| 1900 | 0.0042 |
| 1910 | 0.0043 |
| 1920 | 0.0045 |
| 1930 | 0.005 |
| 1940 | 0.0052 |
| 1950 | 0.0054 |
| 1960 | 0.0041 |
| 1970 | 0.0039 |
| 1980 | 0.0038 |
| 1990 | 0.0037 |
| 2000 | 0.0028 |
| 2010 | 0.002 |