zebrawood, n.

zebrawood
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zebrawood_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zebrawoodnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zebrawood mean?

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

### How common is the noun zebrawood?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1770 | 0.013
1780 | 0.01
1790 | 0.0094
1800 | 0.0083
1810 | 0.0019
1820 | 0.0023
1830 | 0.0024
1840 | 0.0025
1850 | 0.0032
1860 | 0.0028
1870 | 0.0028
1880 | 0.0022
1890 | 0.0021
1900 | 0.0033
1910 | 0.0043
1920 | 0.0045
1930 | 0.0052
1940 | 0.0058
1950 | 0.0065
1960 | 0.0069
1970 | 0.0064
1980 | 0.006
1990 | 0.006
2000 | 0.0057
2010 | 0.0057

### Where does the noun zebrawood come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1700s

The earliest known use of the noun zebrawood is in the mid 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zebrawood is from 1768, in Premiums.

### Nearby entries

1. zebra print, n. & adj. 1932–
2. zebra rhomb, n. 1770–1844
3. zebra rock, n. 1895–
4. zebra rush, n. 1882–
5. zebra shark, n. 1804–
6. zebra skin, n. 1774–
7. zebra spider, n. 1806–
8. zebra suit, n. 1853–
9. zebra swallowtail, n. 1855–
10. zebra wolf, n. 1808–
11. zebrawood, n.1768–
12. zebra woodpecker, n. 1884–
13. zebrina, n. 1846–
14. zebrine, adj. a1810–
15. zebroid, adj. & n. 1881–
16. zebrule, n. 1899–
17. zebu, n. 1771–
18. zecchino, n. 1572–
19. Zechstein, n. 1798–
20. zed, n. c1175–
21. zedbed, n. 1954–

## Meaning & use

1. 1768–
   The striped wood of any of various tropical trees and shrubs, esp. of the genera Connarus (family Connaraceae) and Microberlinia (family Fabaceae), which is commonly used to make veneers and furniture; (also) a tree producing such wood.
   Cf. marblewood n. 2, zebrano n.
   1. 1768

      > Beautiful variegated wood, proper for fineering, called Zebra Wood.

      Premiums (Society Encouragem. Arts, Manuf., & Commerce) 22
   2. 1852

      > A beautiful Devonport of zebra-wood, with a plate-glass back.

      R. S. Surtees, Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour viii. xlii. 231
   3. 1871

      > Zebra-wood (Omphalobium Lambertii). A large tree, native of Guiana.

      J. Smith, Domestic Botany 467
   4. 1921

      > Andaman marble or zebrawood, a handsome wood finely striped with alternate but irregular bands of grey and black.

      W. Bullock, Timbers for Woodwork 67
   5. 1996

      > The name zebrawood..generally applies to certain members of the Leguminosae family: Microberlinia brazzavillensis, M. bisulcata, and Brachystegia fleuryana.

      American Woodworker June 68/2
   6. 2007

      > This is not your average chain hotel: It's a dim oasis lined with zebrawood panelling.

      Globe & Mail (Toronto) 30 August r7/1
   woodworking plants
   1. speckle-wood 1619–
      (See speckled, adj. compounds C.1b).
   2. speckled wood 1657–
      a. A variety of wood having speckled markings; esp. the South American snake-wood or letter-wood, Brosimum aubletii; b. a brown butterfly with…
   3. pigeon wood?1740–
      Any of various tropical or subtropical New World trees or shrubs providing wood used in cabinetwork or building, or having fruit which is sought…
   4. zebrawood 1768–
      The striped wood of any of various tropical trees and shrubs, esp. of the genera Connarus (family Connaraceae) and Microberlinia (family Fabaceae)…
   5. snake-wood 1843–
      The wood of the South American timber-tree Brosimum Aubletii (or Piratinera guianensis), so called from its snake-like markings; letter-wood; also…
   6. tiger-wood 1858–
      A streaked black and brown cabinet-maker's wood: = itaka-wood, n.; also, a variety of citron-wood. See also tiger-cat, n.
   7. tortoise-wood 1866–
      See quot.
   8. zebrano 1908–
      More fully zebrano wood. The striped wood of any of various species of African trees, esp. those of the genus Microberlinia (family Fabaceae)…
   9. zingana 1911–
      The striped wood of any of various African trees, especially from a leguminous tree of the genus Microberlinia.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. mountain ebony 1696–
      Any of several trees of the genus Bauhinia (family Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae)), esp. the Asian B. variegata and the Australian B. hookeri (also mou…
   2. pigeon wood?1740–
      Any of various tropical or subtropical New World trees or shrubs providing wood used in cabinetwork or building, or having fruit which is sought…
   3. beef-wood 1756–
      Applied to various other trees, e.g. in New South Wales to Stenocarpus salignus; in Queensland to Banksia compar (both family Proteaceæ); in…
   4. zebrawood 1768–
      The striped wood of any of various tropical trees and shrubs, esp. of the genera Connarus (family Connaraceae) and Microberlinia (family Fabaceae)…
   5. satinwood 1773–
      Any of various yellowish woods which have a smooth, lustrous texture and are used to make furniture, veneers, etc.; (also) any of the trees…
   6. afzelia 1798–
      Any of various large hardwood trees constituting the genus Afzelia (family Fabaceae (Leguminosae)), native to tropical Africa and Southeast Asia…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zebrawood 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 zebrawood, n., 1770–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1770 | 0.013
1780 | 0.01
1790 | 0.0094
1800 | 0.0083
1810 | 0.0019
1820 | 0.0023
1830 | 0.0024
1840 | 0.0025
1850 | 0.0032
1860 | 0.0028
1870 | 0.0028
1880 | 0.0022
1890 | 0.0021
1900 | 0.0033
1910 | 0.0043
1920 | 0.0045
1930 | 0.0052
1940 | 0.0058
1950 | 0.0065
1960 | 0.0069
1970 | 0.0064
1980 | 0.006
1990 | 0.006
2000 | 0.0057
2010 | 0.0057

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

zebra, n. was revised in June 2018.