zebra moray, n.

zebra-moray
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zebra-moray_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2018

# zebra moraynoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zebra moray mean?

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

### How common is the noun zebra moray?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1930 | 0.00006
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0004
2010 | 0.0004

### Where does the noun zebra moray come from?

Earliest known use

1930s

The earliest known use of the noun zebra moray is in the 1930s.

OED's earliest evidence for zebra moray is from 1933, in Ceylon Journal Science.

### Nearby entries

1. Zebedist, n. 1574
2. zebra, n. 1597–
3. zebra caterpillar, n. 1841–
4. zebra crossing, n. 1934–
5. zebra danio, n. 1917–
6. zebraed, adj. 1806–
7. zebra finch, n. 1868–
8. zebrafish, n. 1771–
9. zebraic, adj. 1858–
10. zebra marking, n. 1854–
11. zebra moray, n.1933–
12. zebra mule, n. 1841–
13. zebra mussel, n. 1866–
14. zebrano, n. 1908–
15. zebra opossum, n. 1808–
16. zebra parakeet, n. 1856–
17. zebra plant, n. 1826–
18. zebra poison, n. 1871–74
19. zebra print, n. & adj. 1932–
20. zebra rhomb, n. 1770–1844
21. zebra rock, n. 1895–

## Meaning & use

1. 1933–
   A moray eel with bold dark and white bands, Gymnomuraena zebra (formerly Echidna zebra), of warm and tropical coastal waters in the Indo-Pacific; also more fully zebra moray eel.
   1. 1933

      > Order Apodes (Eels)... Arndha zebra (Shaw) Vairan gal gulla (S[inhalese]) zebra moray.

      Ceylon Journal Science C. Fisheries September 83
   2. 1988

      > The rare zebra moray eel is a resident, as are..angelfish and damselfish.

      Gourmet October 85/1
   3. 2006

      > Some types of morays, such as the zebra moray in the Philippines, have dull, rounded teeth.

      M. J. Gross, Moray Eel iv. 11
   fish
   1. eel Old English–
      (a) The name of a genus (Anguilla) of soft-finned osseous fishes, strongly resembling snakes in external appearance. The best known species are the…
   2. anguille a1500
      An eel.
   3. moray 1624–
      More fully moray eel. Any of numerous large, predatory, eel-like fishes of the family Muraenidae, which are mostly nocturnal and inhabit warm and…
   4. green eel 1653–
      †a. Any of various green-coloured eels; esp. a form of the common eel, Anguilla anguilla (obsolete); b. Australian the yellow moray, Gymnothorax pra…
   5. mudworm 1700
      An eel. Obsolete. rare.
   6. muraena 1753
      In early use: an eel-like fish mentioned by ancient writers. Later: a moray eel, spec. one of the genus Muraena; (in form Muraena) the genus itself.
   7. morene 1773
      The moray eel, Muraena helena. Cf. muraena, n.
   8. muraenoid 1849–
      = muraenid, n.
   9. spotted moray 1877–
      A moray eel, Gymnothorax moringa, living in shallow reefs, sea grass meadows, and rocky areas of the Atlantic Ocean, with white or pale skin…
   10. warper 1901–
       A local name for the eel. Cf. wriggler, n.
   11. zebra moray 1933–
       A moray eel with bold dark and white bands, Gymnomuraena zebra (formerly Echidna zebra), of warm and tropical coastal waters in the Indo-Pacific…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zebra moray is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 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 zebra moray, n., 1930–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1930 | 0.00006
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0004
2010 | 0.0004

Originally published as part of the entry for zebra, n.

zebra moray, n. was first published in 2018.