<Ottoman Turkishzindīq (also zindıq, zendıq (F. Meninski 1680); Turkishzındık) <Arabiczindīq a heretic, unbeliever, freethinker, atheist (originally ‘Manichaean’) <Middle Persianzandīk a heretic…
<Ottoman Turkishzindīq (also zindıq, zendıq (F. Meninski 1680); Turkishzındık) <Arabiczindīq a heretic, unbeliever, freethinker, atheist (originally ‘Manichaean’) <Middle Persianzandīk a heretic, especially a Manichaean (Persianzandīk), further etymology uncertain and disputed.Compare Frenchzindique (1657 as zendique, or earlier).
Notes
The French and English forms with e may suggest that in Europe, the word was sometimes associated with the apparently unrelated Zendn.
Meaning & use
Chiefly historical.
1667–
Chiefly with reference to Persia or the Ottoman Empire: an adherent of any of various sects considered to be heretical; a heretic; an irreligious person. Cf. Zindikiten.
In earliest use applied to members of a particular religious sect in Persia and the Ottoman Empire in the 17th cent., possibly designating followers of pre-Islamic religious beliefs (see quots. 1667, 1692). Later, frequently used in the context of Persian or Islamic history, with reference to groups associated (or perceived to be associated) with pre-Islamic religious practices such as Manichaeism, Mazdakism, and Zoroastrianism (cf. Zendn.): see note in the etymology.
1667
You are certainly more cruel to us then the Sezidi, the Kiafirs, the Zindiks, then the Durzians.
P. Rycaut, Present State of Ottoman Empireii. x. 122
1692
When I name those Hereticks, I spit on the Ground, in Detestation of their Errors: For they are worse than the Zindicks and Giafers.
translation of G. P. Marana, Letters Turkish Spyvol. V. ix. 43
1739
The common Name for impious Persons is Zendik, which I take it strictly belongs to those who assert the Eternity of the World, and are properly speaking Materialists or Naturalists.
J. Campbell, Trav. of Edward Brown 361
1745
They frequently say that a Mogh is Atesh perest and Zindik, that is a fire worshipper and a Sadducee.
Universal History (Dublin revised edition) vol. V. xi. 33
1842
The sect of Zendiks opposed the progress of Mohammedanism in Arabia with great obstinacy.
W. T. Brande, Dictionary of Science, Literature & Art 1339/1
1881
Al Mahdi..persecuted the Zindíḳs and destroyed a considerable number of them.
H. S. Jarrett, translation of Jalálu’ddín a’s Suyúṭi, Hist. Caliphs 278
1903
Mazdak, the founder of the sect of Zendiks, preached communism.
translation of B. Lazare, Antisemitism 80
1948
Among them were fire-worshippers professing the Magian religion, and Zindīqs.
Bulletin of School of Oriental & African Studiesvol. 12 183
2012
Ibn Sa'īd maintains that Qubādh became a Zindīq and followed Mazdak.
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.
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.
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
1600s
Zindick
1600s–
Zindik
1700s–
Zendik ( British English /ˈzɛndɪk/ (ZEN-dick) , U.S. English /ˈzɛndɪk/ (ZEN-dick) )
1800s
Zendic
1800s–
Zendiq, Zindiq
1900s–
Zindique
Frequency
Zindiq typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zindiq is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 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 Zindiq, n., 1900–2010
* 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.