Zamianoun
Factsheet
What does the noun Zamia mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zamia. 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 Zamia?
| 1810 | 0.093 |
| 1820 | 0.1 |
| 1830 | 0.1 |
| 1840 | 0.1 |
| 1850 | 0.1 |
| 1860 | 0.11 |
| 1870 | 0.1 |
| 1880 | 0.1 |
| 1890 | 0.094 |
| 1900 | 0.087 |
| 1910 | 0.081 |
| 1920 | 0.078 |
| 1930 | 0.077 |
| 1940 | 0.058 |
| 1950 | 0.044 |
| 1960 | 0.038 |
| 1970 | 0.033 |
| 1980 | 0.032 |
| 1990 | 0.032 |
| 2000 | 0.028 |
| 2010 | 0.029 |
How is the noun Zamia pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun Zamia come from?
Earliest known use
1810s
The earliest known use of the noun Zamia is in the 1810s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zamia is from 1819, in a translation by John Lindley, botanist and horticulturist.
Zamia is a borrowing from Latin.
Nearby entries
- Zamazim, n.a1400–
- Zambian, adj. & n.1959–
- Zambianization, n.1964–
- Zambianize, v.1964–
- zambo, n.1819–
- Zamboni, n.1965–
- zambra, n.1672–
- zambuk, n.1906–
- zamburak, n.1825–
- zami, n.1977–
- Zamia, n.1819–
- zamindar, n.1683–
- zamindari, n. & adj.1742–
- zamindarship, n.1698–1902
- zamioid, adj.1860–
- zamorin, n.1582–
- zampino, n.1881–
- zampogna, n.1740–
- zampone, n.1860–
- zamzawed, adj.1743–
- Zamzummim, n.1530–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1819–A genus of cycadaceous plants, natives of the tropical and subtropical parts of North America, the West Indies, and South Africa, resembling dwarf palms, with fern-like leaves and oblong cones; a plant of this genus.
- 1819
The embryo of Zamia is reversed with regard to the pericarp, and occupies an axile cavity in a large endosperm.
J. Lindley, translation of L.-C. Richard, Observations on Structure of Fruits & Seeds 74 - 1827
The Zamia is a palm with a large scaly protuberance above the surface.
Gard. Magazine vol. II. 425 - 1841
The native had..gone away to look for Zamia nuts.
G. Grey, Journal Two Exped. Discov. vol. II. iii. 61 - 1847
Zamias, cycadeæ, and such plants.
D. T. Ansted, Ancient World ix. 219
- Zamia1819–A genus of cycadaceous plants, natives of the tropical and subtropical parts of North America, the West Indies, and South Africa, resembling…
- cycad1845–A plant of the genus Cycas which gives its name to the Cycadaceæ, a family of Gymnosperms, related to the Conifers, but in appearance resembling…
- palm fern1876–a. a cycad; b. rare a tall Australasian tree fern, Cyathea cunninghamii.
- Hottentot's head1884–A southern African cycad, Stangeria eriopus (family Stangeriaceae), having a thick trunk and large fern-like leaves.
Pronunciation
British 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.
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
Zamia typically occurs about 0.03 times per million words in modern written English.
Zamia 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 Zamia, n., 1810–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1810 | 0.093 |
| 1820 | 0.1 |
| 1830 | 0.1 |
| 1840 | 0.1 |
| 1850 | 0.1 |
| 1860 | 0.11 |
| 1870 | 0.1 |
| 1880 | 0.1 |
| 1890 | 0.094 |
| 1900 | 0.087 |
| 1910 | 0.081 |
| 1920 | 0.078 |
| 1930 | 0.077 |
| 1940 | 0.058 |
| 1950 | 0.044 |
| 1960 | 0.038 |
| 1970 | 0.033 |
| 1980 | 0.032 |
| 1990 | 0.032 |
| 2000 | 0.028 |
| 2010 | 0.029 |
Compounds & derived words
- zamioid, adj. 1860–Belonging to the genus Zamia or tribe Zamieæ.