zealotry, n.

zealotry
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zealotry_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zealotrynoun

## Earlier version

- zealotry in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zealotry mean?

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

### How common is the noun zealotry?

About 0.07occurrences per million words in modern written English

1750 | 0.0014
1760 | 0.0016
1770 | 0.0013
1780 | 0.0045
1790 | 0.0047
1800 | 0.0078
1810 | 0.01
1820 | 0.016
1830 | 0.02
1840 | 0.023
1850 | 0.023
1860 | 0.026
1870 | 0.025
1880 | 0.026
1890 | 0.024
1900 | 0.023
1910 | 0.024
1920 | 0.024
1930 | 0.025
1940 | 0.029
1950 | 0.034
1960 | 0.044
1970 | 0.055
1980 | 0.065
1990 | 0.071
2000 | 0.079
2010 | 0.088

### How is the noun zealotry pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɛlətri/
ZEL-uh-tree

#### U.S. English

/ˈzɛlətri/
ZEL-uh-tree

### Where does the noun zealotry come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun zealotry is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for zealotry is from 1653, in the writing of John Gauden, bishop of Worcester.

zealotry is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zealot n., ‑ry suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. zealful, adj. 1602–
2. zeal-inflamed, adj. 1648–
3. zealing, adj. 1459–1602
4. zealist, n. 1614–
5. zealless, adj. a1594–
6. zealot, n. & adj. a1400–
7. zealotic, adj. 1657–
8. zealotical, adj. 1630–
9. zealotism, n. 1645–
10. zealotist, n. & adj. 1593–
11. zealotry, n.1653–
12. zealous, adj.?1495–
13. zealously, adv.?1495–
14. zealousness, n. c1555–
15. zealousy, n. 1542–
16. zeal-pretending, adj. 1652–69
17. zeal-quenching, adj. 1688–1877
18. zeal-scoffing, adj. 1605
19. zeal-transported, adj. a1644–59
20. zeal-worthy, adj. 1797
21. zea maize, n. 1811–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zealot n., ‑ry suffix.
< zealot n. + ‑ry suffix, after e.g. bigotry n.

Compare slightly earlier zealotism n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1653–
   Behaviour or belief characteristic or typical of a zealot; esp. immoderate or fanatical devotion to a religious or political cause or ideal. Also: an instance of this.
   1. 1653

      > Great zealotries for some new form and way of constituting, disciplining, and governing Churches.

      J. Gauden, Hieraspistes 69
   2. 1656

      > Some mens and womens more plebeian Zelotry.

      Discourse of Auxiliary Beauty 63
   3. 1711

      > According to which damnable Notion of false Zealotry, when they Consecrate an Assassin..to Murder an Heretick Prince, they Solemnly Consecrate him to the Work of the Lord.

      Fanatical Moderation 33
   4. 1797

      > The ecstasy of eulogy and the zealotry of panegyric.

      Monthly Review vol. 23 (App.) 573
   5. 1839

      > A more apostolic fervour of holy zealotry in this great cause.

      T. De Quincey, Lake Reminisc. in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine February 102/1
   6. 1898

      > A bigot whose zealotry could not be pierced with sentiments of patriotism.

      J. E. C. Bodley, France vol. II. iii. vi. 316
   7. 1940

      > A ruthlessness and a zealotry that will go to any lengths to cripple an enemy.

      M. Lerner in W. Waller, War in 20th Century 422
   8. 1984

      > A different form of religious and nationalist zealotry drives the..movement's settlers.

      Winnipeg Free Press 13 March 8/2
   9. 2015

      > Their stories envision a world..where decisions are not driven primarily by greed, power lust, or zealotry.

      Journal of American Folklore vol. 128 322
   religion
   1. zealotism 1645–
      Behaviour or belief characteristic of a zealot (zealot, n. A.3); zealotry.
   2. fanaticism 1652–
      The tendency to indulge in wild and extravagant notions, esp. in religious matters; excessive enthusiasm, frenzy; an instance, a particular form, of…
   3. zealotry 1653–
      Behaviour or belief characteristic or typical of a zealot; esp. immoderate or fanatical devotion to a religious or political cause or ideal. Also…
   4. fanaticalness 1668–
      The quality or state of being fanatical; fanaticism.
   5. fanatism 1680–1800
      = fanaticism, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. fanaticism 1652–
      The tendency to indulge in wild and extravagant notions, esp. in religious matters; excessive enthusiasm, frenzy; an instance, a particular form, of…
   2. zealotry 1653–
      Behaviour or belief characteristic or typical of a zealot; esp. immoderate or fanatical devotion to a religious or political cause or ideal. Also…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɛlətri/
ZEL-uh-tree

### U.S. English

/ˈzɛlətri/
ZEL-uh-tree

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1600s
   zelotry
2. 1600s–
   zealotry

## Frequency

zealotry typically occurs about 0.07 times per million words in modern written English.

zealotry is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 zealotry, n., 1750–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1750 | 0.0014
1760 | 0.0016
1770 | 0.0013
1780 | 0.0045
1790 | 0.0047
1800 | 0.0078
1810 | 0.01
1820 | 0.016
1830 | 0.02
1840 | 0.023
1850 | 0.023
1860 | 0.026
1870 | 0.025
1880 | 0.026
1890 | 0.024
1900 | 0.023
1910 | 0.024
1920 | 0.024
1930 | 0.025
1940 | 0.029
1950 | 0.034
1960 | 0.044
1970 | 0.055
1980 | 0.065
1990 | 0.071
2000 | 0.079
2010 | 0.088

### Frequency of zealotry, n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

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 corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.079
2018 | 0.074
2019 | 0.075
2020 | 0.072
2021 | 0.074
2022 | 0.074
2023 | 0.078
2024 | 0.078

zealotry, n. was revised in June 2018.

zealotry, n. was last modified in July 2023.