zanyismnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zanyism mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zanyism. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zanyism?
| 1830 | 0.0016 |
| 1840 | 0.0014 |
| 1850 | 0.0013 |
| 1860 | 0.0012 |
| 1870 | 0.0014 |
| 1880 | 0.0012 |
| 1890 | 0.0008 |
| 1900 | 0.0008 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0005 |
| 1930 | 0.0006 |
| 1940 | 0.0003 |
| 1950 | 0.0003 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0002 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0002 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |
How is the noun zanyism pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zanyism come from?
Earliest known use
1820s
The earliest known use of the noun zanyism is in the 1820s.
OED's earliest evidence for zanyism is from 1823, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.
zanyism is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zany n., ‑ism suffix.
Nearby entries
- zander, n.1854–
- zanella, n.1876–
- zanily, adv.1936–
- zaniness, n.1933–
- Zante, n.1615–
- Zantedeschia, n.1836–
- ZANU, n.1963–
- zany, n. & adj.1582–
- zany, v.1602–1894
- zanyish, adj.1843–
- zanyism, n.1823–
- zanyship, n.1766–1839
- Zanzibari, n. & adj.1882–
- zap, n.1968–
- zap, v.1942–
- zap, int.1929–
- Zapata, n.1962–
- zapateado, n.1845–
- Zapatism, n.1911–
- Zapatismo, n.1913–
- Zapatist, n. & adj.1911–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1823–The condition, characteristics, or behaviour of a zany (in various senses of zany n.); esp. foolishness or buffoonery; (in later use) imaginatively unconventional or idiosyncratic character, quality, or behaviour; zaniness. Also: an instance of this; a foolish, ludicrous, or eccentric act or form of behaviour.
- 1823
Such zanyisms as these [sc. limericks].
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine June 662/1 - 1880
I go into a Church of England and see acted a sort of zanyism.
West Briton 3 June 6/3 - 1938
Out in Minneapolis right now is a screwy outfit called ‘The Rodeolier’ who achieve the epitomy of zanyism by hanging one of their members to a rafter.
Swing November 4/1 - 1988
A component of zanyism seems vital to the temperament of any good comic actor or actress.
H. Levin, Playboys & Killjoys viii. 84 - 2001
For all her zanyisms, Mother had been a serious collector and preserver of fashion history.
D. B. Frank, Plantation xlviii. 516
the mind operation of the mind lack of understanding foolishness, folly absurdity, incongruity [nouns] in conduct- harlotryc1384–1809Coarse or indecent language or behaviour; crude jesting; ribaldry; obscenity. Also in weaker sense: frivolous entertainment or behaviour…
- May game1571–A foolish or extravagant action or performance; a frolic, caper, or entertainment. Now English regional (south-western).
- scogginism1593–1620Scurrilous jesting.
- buffianism1596Buffoonery.
- delirium1599–Irrational, deluded, or absurd thought, speech, or behaviour; delusion, absurdity. Also: an absurd, irrational, or deluded belief or remark.
- fooling1602–With qualifying adjective in adverbial phrases with in or into. The mood or mental state for jesting or acting in an amusing or ridiculous…
- scoggery1602Buffoonery, scurrility.
- buffoonism1611–= buffoonery, n.
- nonsense1612–That which is not sense; absurd or meaningless words or ideas.
- scurrility1614–24Buffoon-like behaviour. Obsolete.
- buffoonery1621–The practice of a buffoon; low jesting or ridicule, farce.
- buffooninga1672–The action of playing the buffoon; low jesting, buffoonery. Also attributive.
- buffoon1780–Used for ‘buffoonery’.
- pantomime1781Originally: (Classical History) a theatrical performer popular in the Roman Empire who represented mythological stories through gestures and…
- zanyism1823–The condition, characteristics, or behaviour of a zany (in various senses of zany, n.); esp. foolishness or buffoonery; (in later use) imaginatively…
- harlequinade1828–transferred. Buffoonery; fantastic procedure.
- loony tunes1940–Actions, ideas, behaviour, etc., regarded as foolish, wildly irrational, or delusional.
the mind emotion pleasure laughter causing laughter [nouns] jest or pleasantry one who jests or jokes buffoon characteristics of- buffoonery1621–The practice of a buffoon; low jesting or ridicule, farce.
- jack-puddinghood1749
- zanyism1823–The condition, characteristics, or behaviour of a zany (in various senses of zany, n.); esp. foolishness or buffoonery; (in later use) imaginatively…
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. 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.
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
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
Frequency
zanyism typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zanyism 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 zanyism, n., 1830–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1830 | 0.0016 |
| 1840 | 0.0014 |
| 1850 | 0.0013 |
| 1860 | 0.0012 |
| 1870 | 0.0014 |
| 1880 | 0.0012 |
| 1890 | 0.0008 |
| 1900 | 0.0008 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0005 |
| 1930 | 0.0006 |
| 1940 | 0.0003 |
| 1950 | 0.0003 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0002 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0002 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |