zephyr lilynoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zephyr lily mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zephyr lily. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zephyr lily?
| 1870 | 0.00004 |
| 1880 | 0.00009 |
| 1890 | 0.00008 |
| 1900 | 0.0002 |
| 1910 | 0.0002 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0005 |
| 1940 | 0.0006 |
| 1950 | 0.0006 |
| 1960 | 0.0007 |
| 1970 | 0.0007 |
| 1980 | 0.0008 |
| 1990 | 0.0008 |
| 2000 | 0.0008 |
| 2010 | 0.0008 |
Where does the noun zephyr lily come from?
Earliest known use
1870s
The earliest known use of the noun zephyr lily is in the 1870s.
OED's earliest evidence for zephyr lily is from around 1877, in the writing of D. T. Fish.
Nearby entries
- zephyranthes, n.1821–
- zephyrean, adj.1793–
- zephyret, n.1777–1881
- zephyr flower, n.?1829–
- zephyr-gale, n.1596–1901
- zephyrian, adj.1661–
- zephyrine, adj. & n.1819–
- zephyring, adj.1821–
- zephyrless, adj.a1821–
- zephyr-like, adv. & adj.1765–
- zephyr lily, n.?1877–
- zephyrous, adj.a1750–
- zephyry, adj.1791–
- Zepp, n.1914–
- Zepp, v.1914–
- Zeppelin, n.1896–
- zeppelin, v.1910–
- Zeppelined, adj.1915–
- Zeppelining, n.1915–
- Zeppelinist, n.1912–
- Zeppelinistic, adj.1930–
Meaning & use
- ?1877–Any of various plants of the genus Zephyranthes (family Amaryllidaceae), native to tropical and subtropical America and widely cultivated as garden plants, typically having grass-like leaves and pink, white, or yellow solitary flowers; a zephyranth.
- ?1877
Unless for the purpose of propagation it is not wise to disturb these zephyr lilies too often.
D. T. Fish, Bulbs & Bulb Culture 443 - 1988
Other spring flowers that respond to moisture are the pale pink zephyr lilies that are also called rain lilies.
St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 28 October d1 - 2008
Zephyr lily (Zephyranthes species).
D. G. Barceloux, Med. Toxicol. Nat. Substances cxii. 716 (heading)
the world plants particular plants plants and herbs according to family Amaryllidaceae [nouns] types of- maguey1555–Any of several giant, fleshy-leaved agaves of Mexico and the south-western United States; esp. the American aloe, Agave americana. Frequently attrib…
- melt1605–23The maguey or American aloe, Agave americana.
- pancratium1664–Botany. Any of various bulbous African, Mediterranean, and South Asian plants of the genus Pancratium (family Amaryllidaceae), bearing umbels of…
- aloe1665–Frequently with distinguishing word. Any of various other plants supposed to resemble those of the genus Aloe; esp. (more fully American aloe) a…
- pita1698–Any of these fibre-yielding plants.
- mescal1709–Any of various plants of the genus Agave, of Mexico and the south-western United States; esp. any of several large agaves with paniculate…
- maypole1750–Caribbean (chiefly Barbados). Any of various kinds of century plant (genus Agave), which are remarkable for their very long, pole-shaped…
- agave1760–Any of numerous plants constituting the genus Agave (family Agavaceae), comprising perennial succulents native chiefly to the southern United…
- poison bulb1776–A South African bulbous plant, Boophane disticha (family Amaryllidaceae), the source of an arrow poison.
- kukumakranka1793–A small, bulbous, perennial plant of the genus Gethyllis, belonging to the family Amaryllidaceæ, and bearing fragrant white flowers and an…
- fire lily1802–a. Any of various lilies with orange or red flowers, esp. Lilium bulbiferum of southern Europe, which has bright orange flowers; b. any of the…
- furcraea1821–A tropical American plant of the genus so named, closely related to Agave and belonging to the family Amaryllidaceæ.
- zephyranthes1821–Any of various bulbous plants of the genus Zephyranthes (family Amaryllidaceae), native to the warmer regions of the Americas and widely cultivated…
- century plant1827–An agave (some of which mature very slowly and take a number of years to come into flower); esp. Agave americana.
- zephyr lily?1877–Any of various plants of the genus Zephyranthes (family Amaryllidaceae), native to tropical and subtropical America and widely cultivated as…
- mescal button1887–The button-like top of the cactus Lophophora williamsii, dried and usually eaten or chewed for its hallucinogenic effects; (also) the cactus itself…
- tequila plant1896–An agave or maguey, the sap of which is used to make tequila; spec. the blue agave, Agave tequilana.
- drumstick allium1976–A cultivated herbaceous perennial, Allium sphaerocephalon (family Amaryllidaceae), with a straight, tall stem bearing a large head of purple flowers.
Frequency
zephyr lily typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zephyr lily 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 zephyr lily, n., 1870–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1870 | 0.00004 |
| 1880 | 0.00009 |
| 1890 | 0.00008 |
| 1900 | 0.0002 |
| 1910 | 0.0002 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0005 |
| 1940 | 0.0006 |
| 1950 | 0.0006 |
| 1960 | 0.0007 |
| 1970 | 0.0007 |
| 1980 | 0.0008 |
| 1990 | 0.0008 |
| 2000 | 0.0008 |
| 2010 | 0.0008 |