zig, v.

zig
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zig_v%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zigverb

## Earlier version

- zig, n. and v. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the verb zig mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the verb zig. 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 verb zig?

About 0.1occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.072
2018 | 0.068
2019 | 0.067
2020 | 0.066
2021 | 0.064
2022 | 0.063
2023 | 0.065
2024 | 0.065

### How is the verb zig pronounced?

#### British English

/zɪɡ/
zig

### Where does the verb zig come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the verb zig is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zig is from 1969, in Southern Review.

zig is formed within English, by clipping or shortening.

Etymons: zigzag n., adj., & adv.

### Nearby entries

1. ziczac, n. 1844–
2. zidovudine, n. 1987–
3. Ziegfeld, n. 1913–
4. Ziegler, n. 1957–
5. Ziegler-Natta, n. 1965–
6. Ziehl, n. 1892–
7. Ziehl-Neelsen, n. 1892–
8. ziff, n. 1917–
9. ZIFT, n. 1988–
10. zig, n. 1978–
11. zig, v.1969–
12. Zigeuner, n. & adj. 1802–
13. Zigeunerin, n. 1845–83
14. ziggety, int., adj., & adv. 1924–
15. ziggurat, n. 1873–
16. zigzag, n., adj., & adv. 1712–
17. zigzag, v. 1777–
18. zigzag connection, n. 1922–
19. zigzagged, adj. 1774–
20. zigzaggery, n. 1761–
21. zigzaggy, adj. a1845–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by clipping or shortening.
< the first syllable of zigzag n., adj., & adv.

## Meaning & use

1. 1969–
   intransitive. To make a movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zag n., adv., & v.
   1. 1969

      > After that We drove back, zigging, cautious.

      Southern Review July 760
   2. 1971

      > An ant zigs quietly over the windowsill.

      G. Ewart, Gavin Ewart Show i. 11
   3. 1982

      > What's his course?..Go deep if it zigs towards us.

      A. Melville-Ross, Trigger v. 45
   1. to turn and wind a1398–
      To turn this way and that; to go or move in a winding course. Formerly also †to turn and wind oneself. Now rare.
   2. wreathe a1500–
      intransitive and transitive (reflexive). To bend or turn in a particular direction; to twist about; to writhe.
   3. twine 1553–
      To extend or proceed in a winding manner; to bend, incline circuitously; to wind about, meander; of a serpent, etc., to crawl sinuously (also refl…
   4. indent 1567–1644
      intransitive. To move in a zigzag or indented line; to turn or bend from side to side in one's course; to double. Obsolete.
   5. vire a1586
      intransitive. To turn; to wind about.
   6. crank 1594–1891
      intransitive. To twist and turn about; to move with a sharply winding course, to zigzag. Obsolete.
   7. to dance the hay or hays 1600–
      transferred and figurative. to dance the hay or hays: to perform winding or sinuous movements (around or among numerous objects); to go through…
   8. maze 1605–
      intransitive. To move in a winding course; to wander as if in a maze. Also (occasionally) transitive with it as object. Now rare.
   9. serpent 1606–
      intransitive. To move in a serpentine manner; to follow a tortuous course; to wind.
   10. to indent the way 1612–22
       transitive. to indent the way: in same sense.
   11. cringle 1629–
       intransitive. Of a stream: to twist, wind. Also transitive (reflexive). rare. Now English regional (north-western).
   12. indenture 1631–35
       intransitive. To move in a zigzag line; to zigzag. Obsolete.
   13. circumgyre 1634–80
       intransitive. To turn round like a wheel; to revolve; to make circuits, wind about, circle.
   14. twist 1635–
       intransitive and reflexive. To pass or move in a tortuous manner; to coil or twine about or round; to penetrate into something with a tortuous…
   15. glomerate 1638
       intransitive. To wind or twist about.
   16. wind 1667–
       Of a person, group, animal, vehicle, etc.: to travel in a twisting, turning, or meandering course, as… transitive, with way, course, etc., as…
   17. serpentine 1767–
       intransitive. To move in a serpentine manner; to pursue a serpentine or tortuous path; to wind.
   18. meander 1785–
       intransitive. In extended use.
   19. zigzag 1787–
       intransitive. To go or move in a zigzag course; to have a zigzag course or direction. Also quasi-transitive, to zigzag it, to zigzag one's way.
   20. zag 1793–
       Used to express a movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zig, v.
   21. to worm one's way 1822–
       With adverbial accusative, as to worm one's way. Also of figurative progress (cf. III.10a).
   22. vandyke 1828–
       intransitive. To go or proceed in an irregular zigzag manner; to take a zigzag course. ? Obsolete.
   23. crankle 1835–
       intransitive. To bend in and out, to wind, twist; ‘to run in flexures and windings’ (Johnson); to run zig-zag.
   24. switchback 1903–
       (intransitive) to take a zigzag course like a switchback railway (switchback, adj. A(a)); (Aeronautics) to make a switchback flight.
   25. rattlesnake 1961–
       intransitive. To move fluidly, quickly, or with a rattling sound; to slither like a rattlesnake. Also transitive: to make (one's way) in this…
   26. zig 1969–
       intransitive. To make a movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zag, n. & adv. & v.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zag 1840–
      Used to express a movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zig, v.
   2. zig 1969–
      intransitive. To make a movement or direction inclined at an angle to that indicated by zag, n. & adv. & v.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zɪɡ/
zig

####

##### 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.

####

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

zig typically occurs about 0.1 times per million words in modern written English.

zig is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 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 zig, v., 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.1
1970 | 0.1
1980 | 0.1
1990 | 0.098
2000 | 0.098
2010 | 0.093

### Frequency of zig, v., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

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 corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.072
2018 | 0.068
2019 | 0.067
2020 | 0.066
2021 | 0.064
2022 | 0.063
2023 | 0.065
2024 | 0.065

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zigging, n. 1977–

1. zig, n. 1978–
   A movement or direction inclined at an angle to…

zig, v. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zig, v. was last modified in December 2024.