zircon-syenite, n.

zircon-syenite
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zircon-syenite_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2021

# zircon-syenitenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zircon-syenite mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zircon-syenite. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zircon-syenite?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1810 | 0.002
1820 | 0.0022
1830 | 0.0027
1840 | 0.0028
1850 | 0.0028
1860 | 0.0028
1870 | 0.0027
1880 | 0.0027
1890 | 0.0023
1900 | 0.0016
1910 | 0.0013
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0005
1940 | 0.0003
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.00009
1990 | 0.00008
2000 | 0.00008
2010 | 0.00007

### Where does the noun zircon-syenite come from?

Earliest known use

1810s

The earliest known use of the noun zircon-syenite is in the 1810s.

OED's earliest evidence for zircon-syenite is from 1813, in a translation by J. Black.

### Nearby entries

1. zircon earth, n. 1794–
2. zirconia, n. 1794–
3. zirconian, adj. 1802–
4. zirconic, adj. 1804–
5. zirconite, n. 1806–
6. zirconitic, adj. 1883–
7. zirconium, n. 1808–
8. zircon-like, adj. 1857–
9. zircono-, comb. form
10. zirconolite, n. 1957–
11. zircon-syenite, n.1813–
12. zirconyl, n. 1887–
13. zirkelite, n. 1895–
14. zit, n. 1912–
15. zit cream, n. 1968–
16. zitella, n. a1660–
17. zit-face, n. 1974–
18. zit-faced, adj. 1971–
19. zither, n. 1831–
20. zither, v. 1889–
21. zither banjo, n. 1888–

## Etymology

After German Zirkonsyenit (1810 or earlier in the source translated in quot. 1813).

## Meaning & use

Geology.

1. 1813–
   A plutonic rock resembling syenite and containing a relatively large amount of zircon.
   In early use perhaps referring to nepheline-syenite n.
   1. 1813

      > I went a few steps farther, and zircon syenite [German Zircon-syenit] lay immediately above the porphyry.

      J. Black, translation of L. von Buch, Trav. Norway & Lapland iii. 64
   2. 1879

      > Elæolite is a constituent of the rocks zircon-syenite, foyaite, miascite, and ditroite.

      F. Rutley, Study of Rocks x. 108
   3. 1940

      > Zircon is widespread and at a few places affords megascopic crystals, so that the rocks were named zircon-syenite before the nepheline was recognized.

      F. F. Grout, Kemp's Handbook Rocks (ed. 6) iii. 70
   4. 2001

      > A xenolith of zircon syenite from basalt near Daylesford.

      Journal & Proceedings of Royal Society New South Wales vol. 134 109/2
   geology
   1. zircon-syenite 1813–
      A plutonic rock resembling syenite and containing a relatively large amount of zircon.
   2. miaskite 1840–
      Any mottled black and white nepheline-syenite that also contains oligoclase, microperthite, and biotite.
   3. uralite-syenite 1868–
      uralite-porphyry, uralite-syenite: (see quots.).
   4. foyaite 1878–
      A kind of syenite.
   5. nepheline-syenite 1885–
      A plutonic rock which resembles syenite in being composed of alkali feldspars and mafic minerals, but also contains nepheline, is rich in sodium but…
   6. pulaskite 1891–
      An alkali syenite containing a small proportion of nepheline.
   7. nordmarkite 1892–
      Geology. A syenite composed mainly of microperthite, with lesser amounts of quartz and usually oligoclase and biotite, and characterized by a…
   8. larvikite 1895–
      A kind of syenite that has a characteristic coarse texture dominated by rhombs of soda or soda-lime feldspar, with augite as the chief mafic…
   9. shonkinite 1895–
      A dark granular form of syenite consisting largely of augite and orthoclase.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zircon-syenite typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zircon-syenite 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 zircon-syenite, n., 1810–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1810 | 0.002
1820 | 0.0022
1830 | 0.0027
1840 | 0.0028
1850 | 0.0028
1860 | 0.0028
1870 | 0.0027
1880 | 0.0027
1890 | 0.0023
1900 | 0.0016
1910 | 0.0013
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0005
1940 | 0.0003
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.00009
1990 | 0.00008
2000 | 0.00008
2010 | 0.00007

Originally published as part of the entry for zircon, n.

zircon, n. was revised in March 2021.