zigzaggedlyadverb
Factsheet
Where does the adverb zigzaggedly come from?
Earliest known use
1920s
The earliest known use of the adverb zigzaggedly is in the 1920s.
OED's earliest evidence for zigzaggedly is from 1921, in the writing of Walter de la Mare, poet and writer.
How common is the adverb zigzaggedly?
| 1920 | 0.0003 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0004 |
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0003 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0002 |
Nearby entries
- zig, n.1978–
- zig, v.1969–
- Zigeuner, n. & adj.1802–
- Zigeunerin, n.1845–83
- ziggety, int., adj., & adv.1924–
- ziggurat, n.1873–
- zigzag, n., adj., & adv.1712–
- zigzag, v.1777–
- zigzag connection, n.1922–
- zigzagged, adj.1774–
- zigzaggedly, adv.1921–
- zigzaggery, n.1761–
- zigzaggy, adj.a1845–
- zigzag machine, n.1952–
- zigzag trefoil, n.1796–
- zig-zig, n.1918–
- Zika, n.1952–
- Zilavka, n.1926–
- zilch, n. & adj.1925–
- zilch, v.1957–
- zill, n.1754–
Meaning & use
- 1921–See zigzagged adj.Stressed as ˈzigzaggedly.
- 1921
How zigzaggedly you talk. What has poetry to do with Mr Crimble?
W. de la Mare, Memoirs of Midget xxxiii. 230 - 1977
It [sc. a ball] rolled zigzaggedly for a while.
R. Katz, Ziggurat vi. 55
the world movement motion in a certain direction change of direction of movement [adverbs] not in a straight course in a winding course- aboutOld English–In rotation or revolution; round in a circular course. Now rare except in figurative use with verbs.
- aboutsa1387–= about, adv. (in various senses). Cf. nearabouts, adv.
- windingly1626In a winding or meandering manner; with twists and turns.
- zigzag1754–In a zigzag manner or direction.
- mazily1845–In a confused or convoluted manner; as if in a maze.
- zag1906–Used to express a movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zig, v.
- zigzaggedly1921–
society leisure the arts literature style of language or writing inelegance [adverbs] disconnectedly- disjointly1621–Disjointedly, disconnectedly. rare.
- disjointedly1633–
- ramblinglya1641–In a rambling manner.
- unconnectedly1778–In an unconnected manner; disconnectedly.
- disconnectedly1807–
- zigzaggedly1921–
Frequency
zigzaggedly typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zigzaggedly 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 zigzaggedly, adv., 1920–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 0.0003 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0004 |
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0003 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0002 |