zoanthidnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zoanthid mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoanthid. 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 zoanthid?
| 1890 | 0.0011 |
| 1900 | 0.0009 |
| 1910 | 0.0019 |
| 1920 | 0.0019 |
| 1930 | 0.0021 |
| 1940 | 0.0031 |
| 1950 | 0.0046 |
| 1960 | 0.0065 |
| 1970 | 0.0076 |
| 1980 | 0.0077 |
| 1990 | 0.0087 |
| 2000 | 0.0099 |
| 2010 | 0.0099 |
Where does the noun zoanthid come from?
Earliest known use
1870s
The earliest known use of the noun zoanthid is in the 1870s.
OED's only evidence for zoanthid is from 1870, in the writing of Henry Nicholson, biologist and geologist.
Nearby entries
- Zlid, n.1616–1785
- Z'life, n.1689
- Z line, n.1916–
- Z-list, n. & adj.1979–
- Z-lister, n.1999–
- zloty, n.1915–
- Zn, n.1814–
- -zoa, comb. form
- -zoan, comb. form
- zoantharian, adj. & n.1887–
- zoanthid, n.1870–
- zoanthidan, adj.1888–
- zoanthodeme, n.1877–
- zoanthoid, adj.1854–
- zoanthropic, adj.1891–
- zoanthropy, n.1856–
- zoanthus, n.1841–
- zoarial, adj.1896–
- zoarium, n.1880–
- zob, n.1911–
- zocalo, n.1884–
Meaning & use
- 1870–A member of the family Zoanthidæ of zoantharians, typified by the genus Zoanthus.Stressed as zoˈanthid.
- 1870
Structures supposed to be gills are developed in some Zoanthids on either side of the primary mesenteries.
H. A. Nicholson, Manual of Zoology (1875) xiii. 132
the world animals invertebrates subkingdom Metazoa grade Diploblastica phylum Coelenterata [nouns] class Anthozoa Actinozoa order Zoantharia suborder Actiniaria member of family Zoanthidae- zoanthid1870–A member of the family Zoanthidæ of zoantharians, typified by the genus Zoanthus.
Frequency
zoanthid typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zoanthid 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 of zoanthid, n., 1890–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 0.0011 |
| 1900 | 0.0009 |
| 1910 | 0.0019 |
| 1920 | 0.0019 |
| 1930 | 0.0021 |
| 1940 | 0.0031 |
| 1950 | 0.0046 |
| 1960 | 0.0065 |
| 1970 | 0.0076 |
| 1980 | 0.0077 |
| 1990 | 0.0087 |
| 2000 | 0.0099 |
| 2010 | 0.0099 |