zwieback, n.

zwieback
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zwieback_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zwiebacknoun

## Earlier version

- zwieback in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zwieback mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zwieback. 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 noun zwieback?

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1890 | 0.13
1900 | 0.12
1910 | 0.12
1920 | 0.11
1930 | 0.11
1940 | 0.09
1950 | 0.061
1960 | 0.046
1970 | 0.034
1980 | 0.022
1990 | 0.019
2000 | 0.018
2010 | 0.017

### How is the noun zwieback pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzwiːbak/
ZWEE-back
/ˈtsviːbak/
TSVEE-back

#### U.S. English

/ˈswiˌbæk/
SWEE-back
/ˈzwiˌbæk/
ZWEE-back

### Where does the noun zwieback come from?

Earliest known use

1890s

The earliest known use of the noun zwieback is in the 1890s.

OED's earliest evidence for zwieback is from 1894, in New York Weekly Tribune.

zwieback is a borrowing from German.

### Nearby entries

1. zurla, n. 1940–
2. zurlite, n. 1826–
3. zurna, n. 1870–
4. zurr, n. 1803–
5. zussmanite, n. 1965–
6. zut, int. 1915–
7. zuur-veldt, n. 1785–
8. zuz, n. 1688–
9. zwanziger, n. 1828–
10. Zweig, n. 1973–
11. zwieback, n.1894–
12. zwieselite, n. 1861–
13. Zwinglian, n. & adj. 1532–
14. Zwinglianism, n. 1581–
15. Zwinglianist, n. 1673–1759
16. zwischenzug, n. 1941–
17. zwitterion, n. 1906–
18. zwitterionic, adj. 1946–
19. Zydeco, n. 1949–
20. zygadite, n. 1861–
21. zygaena, n. 1717–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from German.
< German, < zwie (zwei) twice + backen bake n.1

## Meaning & use

1. 1894–
   A (sweet) rusk or biscuit made by baking a small loaf, and then toasting slices until they are dry and crisp.
   1. 1894

      > These Zweiback will keep for a long time if put in a dry place.

      New York Weekly Tribune 14 March 5/3
   2. 1907

      > On the seventh day, some well~cooked rice and a few softened Zwieback are allowed.

      Practitioner April 552
   3. 1925

      > In Germany and Austria..Zwieback comprises a vast variety of small crunchy biscuity cakes.

      British Weekly 22 October 127/1
   4. 1949

      > The game of ‘I give you something and you give me something’ is not necessarily cross-sexed when it is based on bottles and zwieback.

      M. Mead, Male & Female xiii. 273
   5. 1957

      > The various biscuits, wafers, pretzels, zwiebacks.

      V. Nabokov, Pnin v. 132
   6. 1978

      > Hope gave Nicky a zwieback and he stopped crying.

      J. Irving, World according to Garp xv. 287
   baking
   1. cracknel c1440–
      A light, crisp kind of biscuit, of a curved or hollowed shape. Cf. crackling, n. 4.
   2. dorcake a1500
      A kind of cracknel.
   3. hard bread a1500–
      (As a mass noun) any of various types of hard, dry biscuit; spec. (a) oatcakes; (b) Newfoundland thick, oval-shaped biscuits baked without salt and…
   4. crackling 1598–
      = cracknel, n. Now dialect.
   5. Naples biscuit 1650–
      A kind of biscuit flavoured with rose water; a piece of this; also in extended use. Also Naples cake. Now historical.
   6. gingerbread man 1686–
      a. A man who sells gingerbread (now chiefly historical); b. a gingerbread biscuit shaped like a person (now the usual sense).
   7. chocolate biscuit 1702–
   8. biscotin 1723–
      A kind of sweet biscuit, typically made from a mixture of flour, sugar, egg whites, and marmalade which is boiled before being baked. Also more…
   9. sponge biscuit 1736–
      A flour-biscuit of a similar composition to sponge cake.
   10. gingerbread letter 1740–
       A biscuit made of gingerbread and shaped like a letter of the alphabet, formerly used to help children learn to read.
   11. maple biscuit a1753
       (Perhaps) a biscuit or sweetmeat made with maple sugar.
   12. butter biscuit 1758–
       A plain, crisp, sweet biscuit made with butter.
   13. nut 1775–
       A small rounded biscuit or cake. Chiefly as the second element in compounds, as doughnut, ginger nut, spice nut, etc.
   14. Oliver biscuit 1786–1853
       A thin unsweetened biscuit; = Bath Oliver, n.
   15. funeral biscuit 1790–
       A biscuit served at a wake or funeral.
   16. rock biscuit?1790–
       A type of hard biscuit.
   17. ratafia 1801–
       A kind of cake or biscuit flavoured with ratafia essence.
   18. finger biscuit 1812–
       With the sense ‘resembling a finger in shape’, as finger biscuit, finger muffin, etc.
   19. Savoy drop 1816–89
       attributive. Designating sponge cakes or biscuits of a type associated with, or supposedly… A small round sponge biscuit, made in a similar…
   20. butter bake 1817–
       A sweet biscuit made with butter.
   21. lady's finger 1818–
       A type of elongated finger-shaped cake or biscuit; a sponge-finger.
   22. snap 1819–
       Scottish and northern dialect. A small, usually round, cake or biscuit of crisp gingerbread; a ginger-snap.
   23. cheese biscuit 1827–
       A savoury biscuit flavoured with cheese or eaten with cheese.
   24. Abernethy 1830–
       More fully Abernethy biscuit. A hard biscuit flavoured with caraway seeds.
   25. pretzel 1831–
       A usually salted thin length of bread, characteristically cooked in the shape of a knot; (now usually) a small, crisp version of this, typically…
   26. wine-biscuit 1834–
       A small light biscuit served with wine.
   27. gingersnap 1838–
       A thin brittle ginger-flavoured biscuit.
   28. captain's biscuit 1843–
       A hard variety of fancy biscuit.
   29. lebkuchen 1847–
       As a mass noun: a type of biscuit with a cakelike texture, typically glazed or coated and containing spices and honey. Also as a count noun: a…
   30. beaten biscuit 1854–
       A hard and dense savoury biscuit (biscuit, n. A.I.2), made by beating the dough extremely thoroughly. Also as a mass noun: such biscuits as a…
   31. simnel 1854–
       In Jersey: a kind of thin biscuit made from fine wheat flour and water.
   32. sugar cookie 1854–
       A type of sweet biscuit made from a simple dough which is often rolled out and cut into decorative shapes before baking.
   33. peppernut 1862–
       A small, round, sweet biscuit flavoured with spices such as ginger, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, etc., typically eaten during the Christmas…
   34. McClellan pie 1863–64
       U.S. Army slang. McClellan pie n. also McClellan's pie a piece of hard biscuit of a kind issued to troops under McClellan's command during the…
   35. Savoy ring 1866
       attributive. Designating sponge cakes or biscuits of a type associated with, or supposedly… A small, ring-shaped sponge biscuit, made in a similar…
   36. Brown George 1867–
       A hard, coarse biscuit.
   37. digestive 1876–
       spec. Designating a type of wholemeal biscuit. Also elliptical.
   38. Osborne 1876–
       In full Osborne biscuit. A type of sweetish plain biscuit.
   39. animal cracker 1878–
       A small sweet biscuit made in the shape of an animal (chiefly in plural).
   40. Bath Oliver 1878–
       An unsweetened biscuit said to have been invented by William Oliver (1695–1764), a physician of Bath; formerly simply Oliver.
   41. marie 1878–
       More fully marie biscuit. A type of plain sweet biscuit.
   42. butter cookie 1879–
       A plain, crisp biscuit whose chief ingredients are butter, flour, and sugar.
   43. stage plank 1879–
       U.S. A flat, rectangular gingerbread cake or biscuit, often with icing.
   44. chocolate finger 1880–
       A long, thin chocolate-covered (or -filled) biscuit or item of confectionery; cf. finger biscuit at finger, n. compounds C.1b.i.
   45. boer biscuit 1882–
       (A piece of) rusk or hard biscuit; esp. a rustic, rectangular oven-dried bun typically served with coffee, into which it is traditionally dipped; = bo…
   46. charcoal biscuit 1885–
       A biscuit containing wood-charcoal as an anti-fermentative, absorbent, or deodorizer.
   47. biscotti 1886–
       A long, thin, hard (usually twice-baked) biscuit, typically served as an accompaniment to a hot drink, into which it is dipped.
   48. empire biscuit 1886–
       A type of sandwich biscuit consisting of two round pieces of shortcake with a jam filling, topped with icing and (typically) a glacé cherry.
   49. fairing 1888–
       A small gingerbread biscuit; a ginger nut. In early use: spec. one sold at a fair (cf. sense 1). Now usually in Cornish fairing.
   50. almond slice 1889–
       a. A slice of any of various cakes or tarts made with almonds or almond paste, later esp. one similar to a Bakewell tart (see Bakewell, n. I.3); b. a…
   51. Russian teacake 1889–
       A type of cookie or biscuit with a rich, crumbly texture similar to shortbread, typically containing chopped nuts and rolled in powdered sugar…
   52. snickerdoodle 1889–
       A type of soft, sweet biscuit, typically sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
   53. pfeffernuss 1891–
       A small, round, sweet biscuit flavoured with spices such as ginger, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, etc., and typically eaten during the Christmas…
   54. zwieback 1894–
       A (sweet) rusk or biscuit made by baking a small loaf, and then toasting slices until they are dry and crisp.
   55. Nice 1895–
       More fully Nice biscuit. A thin, sweet biscuit containing coconut and sprinkled with sugar.
   56. Garibaldi biscuit 1896–
       In full Garibaldi biscuit. A sandwich biscuit containing a paste of currants.
   57. Oswego c1900–
       = Oswego biscuit n. at sense I.3b. Now rare.
   58. squashed fly 1900–
       = Garibaldi, n. 3.
   59. sandwich biscuit 1901–
       = sandwich cookie, n.
   60. bizcochito 1902–
       In New Mexico (originally among Hispanic communities): a crisp, crumbly biscuit, made with lard, flavoured with anise, and dusted with cinnamon…
   61. spritz cookie 1903–
       A type of light buttery biscuit, made by forcing the dough through a cookie press, piping bag, or similar implement to form various shapes.
   62. amaretto 1905–
       Usually in plural. An Italian biscuit made with almonds or crushed apricot kernels; a macaroon. Also as a modifier in amaretti biscuit.
   63. boerebeskuit 1905–
       (A piece of) rusk or hard biscuit; esp. a rustic, rectangular oven-dried bun typically served with coffee, into which it is traditionally dipped; = bo…
   64. Romary 1905–
       Usually more fully Romary biscuit. A kind of thin water biscuit, frequently served with cheese.
   65. sandwich cookie 1905–
       A sweet snack consisting of two biscuit layers held together by a layer of chocolate, cream, jam, or other filling.
   66. petit beurre 1906–
       A sweet French butter biscuit; (also) such biscuits collectively.
   67. Oswego biscuit 1907–
       A type of biscuit originally made with Oswego flour.
   68. Gypsy Cream 1908–
       a. An ointment intended to treat minor skin irritation caused by contact with the hairs of the gypsy moth larva (obsolete rare); b. (chiefly British)…
   69. soetkoekie 1910–
       A traditional South African spiced biscuit.
   70. Oreo 1912–
       Originally U.S. A proprietary name for: a type of black chocolate sandwich biscuit filled with a white vanilla cream. Also frequently in Oreo cookie.
   71. custard cream 1916–
       a. = custard, n. 1c; b. chiefly British a type of sweet sandwich biscuit with a vanilla-flavoured cream filling.
   72. Anzac biscuit 1920–
       A kind of biscuit made from rolled oats, flour, butter and sugar, and now typically also containing desiccated coconut.
   73. spritz 1922–
       Also with capital initial. Short for spritz cookie, n.
   74. Anzac 1923–
       Chiefly Australian and New Zealand = Anzac biscuit, n. Also with lower-case initial.
   75. Girl Scout cookie 1923–
       A biscuit of any of the various kinds sold by the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. as a means of fund-raising.
   76. campfire cookie 1924–
       a. A cookie or biscuit cooked over or eaten around a campfire; b. a soft chewy cookie or biscuit having the flavours and textures of a s'more (s'more…
   77. sweet biscuit 1929–
       A biscuit flavoured with sugar.
   78. langue de chat 1931–
       A thin, crisp, finger-shaped biscuit; (also) a long thin piece of chocolate.
   79. Bourbon biscuit 1932–
       A chocolate-flavoured biscuit with a chocolate cream filling.
   80. Afghan 1934–
       New Zealand. = Afghan biscuit, n.
   81. Afghan biscuit 1934–
       A type of chocolate biscuit, typically topped with cocoa icing and half a walnut.
   82. flapjack 1935–
       A sweet dense baked item made from rolled oats and typically sugar, golden syrup, and melted butter, usually served in rectangles.
   83. Florentine 1936–
       (a) A variety of almond cake. (b) A thin biscuit coated on one side with chocolate, and consisting chiefly of pieces of flaked nuts and preserved…
   84. chocolate chip cookie 1938–
       A sweet biscuit containing chocolate chips.
   85. choc chip cookie 1940–
       = chocolate chip cookie, n.
   86. Toll House cookie 1940–
       The proprietary name of a kind of a biscuit containing chocolate chips.
   87. tuile 1943–
       As tuile n. A thin curved biscuit, usually made with almonds. Also attributive and with defining addition.
   88. pizzelle 1949–
       Chiefly U.S. A crisp, waffle-like sweet biscuit which is cooked between two hinged iron plates and is typically served on festive occasions.
   89. black and white 1967–
       U.S. A large round biscuit with a soft, cakelike texture, having white (usually vanilla-flavoured) icing on one half and chocolate icing on the…
   90. Romany Cream 1970–
       A crunchy, oval-shaped, chocolate and coconut sandwich biscuit filled with a smooth chocolate cream. Cf. Gypsy Cream, n. (b).
   91. Jaffa cake 1976–
       A sponge biscuit with an orange-flavoured jelly filling and chocolate topping.
   92. papri 1978–
       A small, thin, crisp wheat biscuit. Also as postmodifier.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzwiːbak/
ZWEE-back
/ˈtsviːbak/
TSVEE-back
/ˈtsviːbɑːk/
TSVEE-bahk

### U.S. English

/ˈswiˌbæk/
SWEE-back
/ˈzwiˌbæk/
ZWEE-back
/ˈswaɪˌbæk/
SWIGH-back
/ˈzwaɪˌbæk/
ZWIGH-back

####

##### 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

Also zwei-. Plural zwieback(s).

## Frequency

zwieback typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

zwieback 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 zwieback, n., 1890–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1890 | 0.13
1900 | 0.12
1910 | 0.12
1920 | 0.11
1930 | 0.11
1940 | 0.09
1950 | 0.061
1960 | 0.046
1970 | 0.034
1980 | 0.022
1990 | 0.019
2000 | 0.018
2010 | 0.017

zwieback, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zwieback, n. was last modified in July 2023.