Zenzizenzizenzic
Zenzizenzizenzic is the eighth power of a number. Robert Recorde in The Whetstone of Witte, published in 1557. Although his spelling had the last letter of the word as k.
This word is not used any more in math except as a curiosity. The Oxford English Dictionary has only one citation for it. It survives because it is unusual.
The root word, is the Italian censo, meaning squared.
Zenzizenzizenzic is from a time when there was no easy way of writing the powers of numbers except as squares and cubes. The fourth power was represented by the square of a square. Zenzizenzic is a condensed form of the Italian censo di censo, used by Leonardo of Pisa in his famous book Liber Abaci of 1202.
The eighth power is by extension zenzizenzizenzic. Similarly the sixth power would be zenzicube, the square of a cube.
Zenzizenzizenzic has more Z's than any other word in English.
Zenzizenzizenzic Media
Page from The Whetstone of Witte, 1557. Zenzizenzizenzike occurs at the top of the right hand page.
Table of powers, symbols and names or descriptions from 0 to 24 by Samuel Jeake, written in 1671
References
- Hebra, Alexius J. (2003), Measure for Measure: The Story of Imperial, Metric, and Other Units, The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-7072-9.
- Knight, Charles (1868), The English Cyclopaedia, Bradbury, Evans, p. 1045.
- Reilly, Edwin D. (2003), Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 3, ISBN 978-1-57356-521-9.
- Todd, Richard Watson (2006), Much Ado About English, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85788-372-5.
- Uldrich, Jack (2008), "Chapter 2. The Power of Zenzizenzizenzic", Jump the Curve: 50 Essential Strategies to Help Your Company Stay Ahead of Emerging Technologies, Adams Media, ISBN 978-1-59869-420-8.