Zenonian, adj.³ & n.²

zenonian
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zenonian_adj3%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# Zenonianadjective3 & noun2

## Factsheet

### What does the word Zenonian mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word Zenonian. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the word Zenonian?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1830 | 0.0004
1840 | 0.0005
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0005
1870 | 0.0006
1880 | 0.0006
1890 | 0.0006
1900 | 0.0007
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0009
1930 | 0.001
1940 | 0.0011
1950 | 0.0013
1960 | 0.0014
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.0016
1990 | 0.0015
2000 | 0.0015
2010 | 0.0015

### How is the word Zenonian pronounced?

#### British English

/zᵻˈnəʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

#### U.S. English

/zəˈnoʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

### Where does the word Zenonian come from?

Earliest known use

1830s

The earliest known use of the word Zenonian is in the 1830s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zenonian is from 1837, in the writing of Henry N. Coleridge, barrister and writer.

From a proper name, combined with an English element.

Etymons: proper name Zēnō, Ζήνων, ‑ian suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. Zenned-out, adj. 1968–
2. Zennist, adj. & n. 1904–
3. zeno-, comb. form
4. zenocentric, adj. 1911–
5. Zenocratically, adv. 1588
6. zenographic, adj. 1853–
7. zenographical, adj. 1853–
8. zenography, n. 1890–
9. Zenonian, adj.¹ & n.¹ 1654–
10. Zenonian, adj.² 1756–
11. Zenonian, adj.³ & n.²1837–
12. Zenonic, adj.¹ 1779–
13. Zenonic, adj.² 1827–
14. Zenonism, n.¹ 1789–
15. Zenonism, n.² 1935–
16. zenzi-, comb. form
17. zenzic, n. & adj. 1557–71
18. zenzicube, adj. & n. 1557–1690
19. zenzicubic, adj. 1557–71
20. zenzicubicube, n. a1690
21. zenzizenzic, adj. & n. 1557–1690

## Etymology

### Summary

From a proper name, combined with an English element.
Etymons: proper name Zēnō, Ζήνων, ‑ian suffix.
< classical Latin Zēnōn-, Zēnō or its etymon ancient Greek Ζήνων, the name of the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea + ‑ian suffix.

Compare earlier Zenonic adj.1, and later Zenonism n.2

## Meaning & use

1. adjective
   1. 1837–
      Of or relating to the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (early 5th cent. b.c.) considered by Aristotle as the originator of dialectic (dialectic n.1 1a); of or relating to the philosophical ideas of Zeno of Elea, esp. his paradoxes.
      1. 1837

         > This part of the solution..is substantially what Aristotle means in his remark on the Zenonian paradox.

         H. N. Coleridge in S. T. Coleridge, Friend (ed. 3) vol. III. iii. 93
      2. 1850

         > Generalising dialectics and Zenonian negation.

         G. Grote, History of Greece vol. VIII. ii. lxviii. 565
      3. 1935

         > The regiment of Zenonian paradoxes relative to the impossibility of motion or temporal succession.

         Times Literary Supplement 4 July 426/2
      4. 2002

         > Who would dare say that the paradox he comes to embrace by the end of his story..does not invite skeptical, Zenonian interrogation?

         New York Review of Books 26 September 60/1
      philosophy
2. noun
   1. 1952–
      A follower or student of Zeno of Elea; a person who holds similar views to those of Zeno of Elea (cf. sense A).
      1. 1952

         > The reasoning on which it is based will not depend upon the particular lengths which Zenonians wish us to ‘compound’.

         Philosophy of Science vol. 19 301
      2. 1979

         > That atomistic answer has left most Zenonians unmoved.

         J. Barnes, Presocratic Philosophers vol. I. xii. 245
      3. 2014

         > Modern-day Zenonians do not deny the existence of nondegenerate segments.

         Philos. Science vol. 81 673

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zᵻˈnəʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

### U.S. English

/zəˈnoʊniən/
zuh-NOH-nee-uhn

####

##### 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.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

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.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

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

## Frequency

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

Zenonian 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of Zenonian, adj.³ & n.², 1830–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1830 | 0.0004
1840 | 0.0005
1850 | 0.0005
1860 | 0.0005
1870 | 0.0006
1880 | 0.0006
1890 | 0.0006
1900 | 0.0007
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0009
1930 | 0.001
1940 | 0.0011
1950 | 0.0013
1960 | 0.0014
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.0016
1990 | 0.0015
2000 | 0.0015
2010 | 0.0015

Originally published as part of the entry for Zenonian, adj.¹ & n.¹

Zenonian, adj.³ & n.² was revised in June 2018.

Zenonian, adj.³ & n.² was last modified in July 2023.