ziff, n.

ziff
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/ziff_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2023

# ziffnoun

## Earlier version

- ziff in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun ziff mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun ziff. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is used in Australian English and New Zealand English.

### How common is the noun ziff?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1910 | 0.0009
1920 | 0.0009
1930 | 0.0011
1940 | 0.0012
1950 | 0.0013
1960 | 0.0013
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0016
2000 | 0.0015
2010 | 0.0016

### How is the noun ziff pronounced?

#### British English

/zɪf/
ziff

#### U.S. English

/zɪf/
ziff

#### Australian English

/zɪf/

#### New Zealand English

/zəf/

### Where does the noun ziff come from?

Earliest known use

1910s

The earliest known use of the noun ziff is in the 1910s.

OED's earliest evidence for ziff is from 1917, in Stretcher.

ziff is of unknown origin.

### Nearby entries

1. zibet, n. 1594–
2. zibet-muff, n. 1685
3. zibib, n. 1836–
4. ziczac, n. 1844–
5. zidovudine, n. 1987–
6. Ziegfeld, n. 1913–
7. Ziegler, n. 1957–
8. Ziegler-Natta, n. 1965–
9. Ziehl, n. 1892–
10. Ziehl-Neelsen, n. 1892–
11. ziff, n.1917–
12. ZIFT, n. 1988–
13. zig, n. 1978–
14. zig, v. 1969–
15. Zigeuner, n. & adj. 1802–
16. Zigeunerin, n. 1845–83
17. ziggety, int., adj., & adv. 1924–
18. ziggurat, n. 1873–
19. zigzag, n., adj., & adv. 1712–
20. zigzag, v. 1777–
21. zigzag connection, n. 1922–

## Etymology

### Summary

Of unknown origin.
Origin unknown.

## Meaning & use

colloquial (Australian and New Zealand).

1. 1917–
   A beard.
   1. 1917

      > Z is for ‘Ziff’ which appears on the lip; To call it a ‘mo’ would give one the pip.

      Stretcher (Camel Brigade Field Ambulance, Australia) March 9/2
   2. 1934

      > All the Druids in that show wore long, white nightgowns and ziffs down to where the tops of their trousers should have been.

      Bulletin (Sydney) 2 May 25/4
   3. 1971

      > So up he goes and finds he knows one of them, the one with the ziff, a bloke they call Slalom Sam.

      New Zealand Listener 19 April 56/5
   4. 2003

      > As a schoolboy, I would try to get away with a day or so of tufty fluff just to advertise the fact that by trying to grow a ziff, I was challenging school rules.

      Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 18 July 21
   Australian English New Zealand English colloquial and slang
   1. beard Old English–
      A growth of coarse hair on the chin and lower cheeks of an adult man's face. Also as a mass noun: this hair, which may be shaved or trimmed.
   2. chin a1400
      The hair on the chin, the beard. Obsolete.
   3. barb a1500–1688
      The beard of a man. Obsolete. rare.
   4. muzzle a1640–99
      slang. A beard, esp. one that is long or unkempt. Obsolete. rare.
   5. facial hair 1830–
      (Esp. of a man) hair that grows on the chin, cheeks, or upper lip; (in extended use) a beard or moustache.
   6. fungus 1904–
      figurative. colloquial. A man's facial hair, esp. a beard.
   7. beaver 1910–
      a. A beard; b. a bearded person; c. a game, in which points are scored in various ways by ‘spotting’ beards.
   8. ziff 1917–
      A beard.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zɪf/
ziff

### U.S. English

/zɪf/
ziff

### Australian English

/zɪf/

### New Zealand English

/zəf/

####

##### 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.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- 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 as in British and US English.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- edress
- ætrap
- ʌːpalm, bath, start
- ʌstrut
- ɔlot, cloth
- oːthought, north, force, sure
- ʊfoot
- ʉːgoose
- ɜːnurse
- æeface
- ɑepride
- əletter
- ɪənear
- eːsquare
- ʉːəcure
- æɔmouth
- əʉgoat
- oɪvoice
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/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
- 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 as in British and US English.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy, sing
- əkit, letter, ago
- edress
- ɛtrap
- ʌstrut
- ʌːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot, cloth
- oːthought, north, force
- ʊfoot
- ʉːgoose
- ɵːnurse
- ʌʉgoat
- æʉmouth
- iənear
- eəsquare
- ʉəcure
- æeface
- ɑepride
- oevoice

Māori-origin words may vary in length or diphthongal quality.

In New Zealand English, words of Māori origin are treated slightly differently from the rest. Multiple pronunciations may be given, the first of which is a close representation of the Māori pronunciation. Varying degrees of anglicization may be reflected in subsequent pronunciations. The Māori pronunciations use the same vowel symbols as above but with varying length (e.g. /eː/ in addition to /e/) or different diphthong qualities.

##### 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

ziff typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

ziff 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 ziff, n., 1910–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1910 | 0.0009
1920 | 0.0009
1930 | 0.0011
1940 | 0.0012
1950 | 0.0013
1960 | 0.0013
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0016
2000 | 0.0015
2010 | 0.0016

ziff, n. was revised in March 2023.

ziff, n. was last modified in July 2023.