Zapotecanadjective & noun
Factsheet
Where does the word Zapotecan come from?
Earliest known use
1920s
The earliest known use of the word Zapotecan is in the 1920s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zapotecan is from 1922, in the writing of K. Al-Shimas.
How common is the word Zapotecan?
| 1920 | 0.042 |
| 1930 | 0.037 |
| 1940 | 0.034 |
| 1950 | 0.031 |
| 1960 | 0.024 |
| 1970 | 0.018 |
| 1980 | 0.013 |
| 1990 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 0.009 |
| 2010 | 0.0065 |
Nearby entries
- zap, v.1942–
- zap, int.1929–
- Zapata, n.1962–
- zapateado, n.1845–
- Zapatism, n.1911–
- Zapatismo, n.1913–
- Zapatist, n. & adj.1911–
- Zapatista, n. & adj.1911–
- zapote, n.1842–
- Zapotec, n. & adj.1797–
- Zapotecan, adj. & n.1922–
- zappe, v.c1600
- zapped, adj.1962–
- zapper, n.1969–
- zapping, n.1972–
- zappy, adj.1969–
- zaptieh, n.1869–
- ZAPU, n.1961–
- Zar, n.1868–
- Zarathustrian, adj. & n.1859–
- Zarathustrianism, n.1864–
Meaning & use
- 1922–Stressed as Zapoˈtecan.
- 1922
The Zapotecan tongue is spoken by at least 500,000 souls.
K. Al-Shimas, Mexican Southland vii. 122 - 1922
Those accosted made answer in Zapotecan.
K. Al-Shimas, Mexican Southland vii. 126 - 1962
Rhythmic and Zapotecan-proud the classic women dance.
E. Birney, Ice Cod Bell or Stone 54 - 1978
In the Zapotecan family of Oaxaca, ‘Choapan Zapotec phonology’, by Larry and Rosemary Lyman..employs ‘a hierarchically oriented framework’ of five levels, from phoneme to ‘phonological sentence’.
Language 506/2
the mind language languages of the world Indigenous languages of the Americas [adjectives] Oto-Manguean- Mixtecan1787–= Mixtec, adj.
- Otomi1843–Of, relating to, or designating the Otomi or their language.
- Trique1891–Of or pertaining to this people or their language.
- Mazatec1892–Of or relating to the Mazatecs or their language.
- Otomian1911–Of, relating to, or designating this group or its languages.
- Zapotecan1922–
- Oto-Manguean1958–Of, relating to, or designating this language family or its languages.
- Mazahua1965–Of, relating to, or designating the Mazahuas or their language.
the world people ethnicity, race, or heritage Indigenous peoples of the Americas peoples of Central or South America [adjectives] peoples of Central America- Chichimeca1726–Of, relating to, or designating the Chichimecas or their languages; = Chichimec, adj.
- Aztecan1787–Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Aztecs or their culture. Cf. Aztec, adj.
- Miskito1789Of or relating to an Indigenous people living in a coastal region of eastern Nicaragua and north-eastern Honduras.
- Chichimec1811–Of, relating to, or designating the Chichimecs or their languages; = Chichimeca, adj.
- Nahuatl1814–Of or relating to any of a group of Indigenous peoples of southern Mexico and Central America, or their language.
- Quiché1823–Of, relating to, or designating this people or their language.
- Aztec1824–Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Aztecs or their culture. Cf. Aztecan, adj. A.1.
- Mayo1829–Of, relating to, or designating the Mayo or their language.
- Seri1829–Of or pertaining to the Seri or their language.
- Otomi1843–Of, relating to, or designating the Otomi or their language.
- Mimbres1856–89Of or relating to the Mimbreño Apache people of south-western New Mexico. Esp. in Mimbres Apache. Cf. Mimbreño, adj. Obsolete.
- Yaqui1861–Of, pertaining to, or designating the Yaqui.
- Zapotec1861–Of or pertaining to the Zapotecs.
- Nahuan1862–Of, belonging to, or relating to any of the Nahuan peoples or their languages. Cf. Nahuatl, adj., Aztecan, adj. A.2.
- Nahua1865–= Nahuatl, adj.
- Tzeltal1868–(A member of) an Indigenous people inhabiting parts of southern Mexico; the Mayan language of this people. Also attributive or as adj.
- Yucatecan1871–
- Tlapanec1874–An Indigenous people of south-west Guerrero, Mexico.
- Mixtec1875–Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Mixtecs or their languages.
- Bribri1876–Of, relating to, or belonging to the Bribri or their language.
- Mangue1876–Of or designating the Mangues or their language.
- Nahuatlaca1877–= Nahuatl, adj.
- Mixe1888–Designating, of, or relating to the Mixe or their languages.
- Trique1891–Of or pertaining to this people or their language.
- Mazatecan1892–= Mazatec, adj.
- Subtiaba1892–Of or relating to the Subtiabas or their language.
- Huichol1900–Of or pertaining to this people or their language.
- Kuna1905–Of or relating to this people or their language.
- Mixteca1911–= Mixtec, adj.
- Subtiaban1911–= Subtiaba, adj.
- Tarascan1911–Of or pertaining to this people or their language.
- Tarahumara1912–Of, pertaining to, or designating this people.
- Zapotecan1922–
- Tzotzil1939–(A member of) an Indigenous people inhabiting parts of southern Mexico; the Mayan language of this people. Also attributive or as adj.
- Mixe–Zoquean1940–Designating or relating to the Mixe and Zoque peoples of southern Mexico, considered as one group, or their languages.
- Tiwa1950–(A member of) a Pueblo people living in the upper Rio Grande valley, comprising the Northern Tiwa (Taos and Picuris), in New Mexico, and the Tigua…
- Mixteco1959–= Mixtec, adj.
- Kekchi1960–Of or pertaining to the Kekchi or their language.
- Uto-Aztecan1968–Of or relating to a family of Indigenous languages of Central America and western North America, including Nahuatl, Shoshone, Hopi, and Paiute…
- Uto-Aztec2022–Of or relating to a family of Indigenous languages of Central America and western North America, including Nahuatl, Shoshone, Hopi, and Paiute…
Frequency
Zapotecan typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zapotecan 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 of Zapotecan, adj. & n., 1920–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 0.042 |
| 1930 | 0.037 |
| 1940 | 0.034 |
| 1950 | 0.031 |
| 1960 | 0.024 |
| 1970 | 0.018 |
| 1980 | 0.013 |
| 1990 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 0.009 |
| 2010 | 0.0065 |