zigzaggedadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zigzagged mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zigzagged. 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 adjective zigzagged?
| 1780 | 0.0028 |
| 1790 | 0.0022 |
| 1800 | 0.0019 |
| 1810 | 0.0022 |
| 1820 | 0.0012 |
| 1830 | 0.0014 |
| 1840 | 0.0014 |
| 1850 | 0.0011 |
| 1860 | 0.0013 |
| 1870 | 0.0014 |
| 1880 | 0.001 |
| 1890 | 0.0011 |
| 1900 | 0.0011 |
| 1910 | 0.0011 |
| 1920 | 0.001 |
| 1930 | 0.0009 |
| 1940 | 0.0008 |
| 1950 | 0.0008 |
| 1960 | 0.0009 |
| 1970 | 0.0011 |
| 1980 | 0.0014 |
| 1990 | 0.0014 |
| 2000 | 0.0015 |
| 2010 | 0.0017 |
How is the adjective zigzagged pronounced?
British English
Where does the adjective zigzagged come from?
Earliest known use
late 1700s
The earliest known use of the adjective zigzagged is in the late 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zigzagged is from 1774, in the writing of Oliver Goldsmith, author.
zigzagged is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zigzag n., zigzag v., ‑ed suffix1.
Nearby entries
- ZIFT, n.1988–
- 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–
- 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–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1774–Having a zigzag form or marking.
- 1774
The body oblong; the line running down the side zigzagged towards the tail.
O. Goldsmith, History of Earth vol. VI. 307 - 1781
The zigzagged semicircle of this arch.
T. Warton, Specimen Hist. Oxfordshire (1783) 4 - 1829
[The house] presents sundry crowfooted, alias zigzagged, gables.
Abbotsford Described in A. Cunningham, Anniversary 88 - 1841
On the external barbs of the caudal feathers are two zigzagged bands.
Penny Cyclopaedia vol. XXI. 86/1
- indenteda1616–Having a serrated or zigzag figure, direction, or course, as a line, wall, moulding, path, etc.; constructed with salient and re-entrant angles…
- zigzag1752–Having the form of a zigzag; turning sharply at angles in alternate directions; characterized by turns of this kind.
- zigzagged1774–Having a zigzag form or marking.
- zigzaggya1845–Characterized by zigzags or short sharp turns at alternate angles.
- zigzag-shaped1846–zigzag-shaped adj.; zigzag fashion, zigzag-wise quasi-adverbs.
- chevrony1887–gen. Formed of chevrons, zigzag.
- flecked1664–70Of woodwork: Grained; marked. Obsolete.
- zigzagged1774–Having a zigzag form or marking.
- zigzag1785–Having zigzag markings. (Chiefly Natural History.)
- vermiculated1872–Ornamented with sinuous or wavy lines or markings of a specified colour.
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.
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
zigzagged typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zigzagged 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 of zigzagged, adj., 1780–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1780 | 0.0028 |
| 1790 | 0.0022 |
| 1800 | 0.0019 |
| 1810 | 0.0022 |
| 1820 | 0.0012 |
| 1830 | 0.0014 |
| 1840 | 0.0014 |
| 1850 | 0.0011 |
| 1860 | 0.0013 |
| 1870 | 0.0014 |
| 1880 | 0.001 |
| 1890 | 0.0011 |
| 1900 | 0.0011 |
| 1910 | 0.0011 |
| 1920 | 0.001 |
| 1930 | 0.0009 |
| 1940 | 0.0008 |
| 1950 | 0.0008 |
| 1960 | 0.0009 |
| 1970 | 0.0011 |
| 1980 | 0.0014 |
| 1990 | 0.0014 |
| 2000 | 0.0015 |
| 2010 | 0.0017 |
Compounds & derived words
- zigzaggedness, n. 1893–
- zigzaggedly, adv. 1921–