zwischenzugnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zwischenzug mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zwischenzug. 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 zwischenzug?
| 1960 | 0.0002 |
| 1970 | 0.0002 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0002 |
| 2010 | 0.0003 |
How is the noun zwischenzug pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zwischenzug come from?
Earliest known use
1940s
The earliest known use of the noun zwischenzug is in the 1940s.
OED's earliest evidence for zwischenzug is from 1941, in the writing of F. Reinfeld.
zwischenzug is a borrowing from German.
Nearby entries
- zut, int.1915–
- zuur-veldt, n.1785–
- zuz, n.1688–
- zwanziger, n.1828–
- Zweig, n.1973–
- zwieback, n.1894–
- zwieselite, n.1861–
- Zwinglian, n. & adj.1532–
- Zwinglianism, n.1581–
- Zwinglianist, n.1673–1759
- zwischenzug, n.1941–
- zwitterion, n.1906–
- zwitterionic, adj.1946–
- Zydeco, n.1949–
- zygadite, n.1861–
- zygaena, n.1717–
- zygaenid, n. & adj.1913–
- zygaenidan, n.1837–
- zygal, adj.1886–
- zygantrum, n.1854–
- zygapophysial, adj.1870–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1941–An interim or temporizing move.
- 1941
This masterly Zwischenzug is the finest move in the whole game.
F. Reinfeld, Keres' Best Games of Chess 108/1 - 1969
Carl thought about the move for thirty-five minutes, and then made a temporising move, a zwischenzug, checking with his Bishop.
‘A. Glyn’, Dragon Variation ix. 292 - 1978
50 P-K6ch Black resigns. 50... K × P now fails to the zwischenzug 51 B-N3!
Spectator 26 August 27/3
- neck1557–1637A move to cover check.
- stroke1735–In a game: An effective move or combination.
- key1845–Chess. The first move in the solution of a problem (problem, n. 5); = key-move, n.
- forced move1847–In a game, one rendered inevitable by the action of the adversary or the position of the piece. Cf. forced put, force-put, n.
- key-move1847–The first move in the solution of a problem (problem, n. 5); = key, n.¹ A.II.7.
- fianchetto1848–The development of a bishop by moving it one square to a long diagonal of the board.
- half-move1860–A single move by White or Black (as distinct from a full move, one by each side) during the course of a game, esp. as described in a chess puzzle…
- queening1860–The action of queening (a pawn). See queen, v. 2.
- pinning1900–Chess. The action of trapping an opposing piece so that it cannot be moved without exposing a more valuable piece to capture. Cf. pin, v.¹ 7b.
- mutate1922–Chess. A problem beginning from a block (a position in which Black, though not under threat, cannot move without being mated by White), in which…
- valve1930–Chess. (See quot. 1930.)
- zwischenzug1941–An interim or temporizing move.
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.
Frequency
zwischenzug typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zwischenzug 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 zwischenzug, n., 1960–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.0002 |
| 1970 | 0.0002 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0002 |
| 2010 | 0.0003 |