zenithwardsadverb
Factsheet
What does the adverb zenithwards mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adverb zenithwards. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adverb zenithwards?
| 1860 | 0.0011 |
| 1870 | 0.0009 |
| 1880 | 0.0008 |
| 1890 | 0.0008 |
| 1900 | 0.0006 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0001 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.00005 |
| 1990 | 0.00005 |
| 2000 | 0.00003 |
| 2010 | 0.00003 |
How is the adverb zenithwards pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adverb zenithwards come from?
Earliest known use
1820s
The earliest known use of the adverb zenithwards is in the 1820s.
OED's earliest evidence for zenithwards is from 1826, in Asiatic Journal & Monthly Register.
zenithwards is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zenith n., ‑wards suffix.
Nearby entries
- zenithal projection, n.1877–
- zenith-borne, adj.1865–86
- zenith distance, n.1588–
- zenith line, n.1585–
- zenith point, n.1585–
- zenith sector, n.1775–
- zenith sweep, n.1790–
- zenith telescope, n.1803–
- zenith tube, n.1825–
- zenithward, n., adv., & adj.1655–
- zenithwards, adv.1826–
- Zenker, n.¹1872–
- Zenker, n.²1894–
- Zen-like, adj.a1908–
- Zen master, n.1907–
- Zenned-out, adj.1968–
- Zennist, adj. & n.1904–
- zeno-, comb. form
- zenocentric, adj.1911–
- Zenocratically, adv.1588
- zenographic, adj.1853–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1826–Towards the zenith; in the direction of the zenith. Also figurative.
- 1826
A number of rockets were thrown at the car, until at length it caught fire and blew up, carrying the Poonhgee..zenithwards.
Asiatic Journal & Monthly Register October 379 - 1863
It does awaken our surprise when we read how they [sc. balloonists] soared zenithwards six miles.
Liverpool Mercury 16 December 6/6 - 1871
The meridian sun..is..climbing zenithwards.
A. Stewart, Nether Lochaber (1883) xxii. 128 - 1917
All building materials and labor costs are merrily fluctuating or moving zenithwards.
J. R. McMahon, Success in Suburbs vi. 127 - 2015
The sun moved slowly zenithwards.
G. Holderness, Re-Writing Jesus 172
- zenithwards1826–Towards the zenith; in the direction of the zenith. Also figurative.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. 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.
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
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
zenithwards typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zenithwards 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 of zenithwards, adv., 1860–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 0.0011 |
| 1870 | 0.0009 |
| 1880 | 0.0008 |
| 1890 | 0.0008 |
| 1900 | 0.0006 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0001 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.00005 |
| 1990 | 0.00005 |
| 2000 | 0.00003 |
| 2010 | 0.00003 |