zyme, n.

zyme
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zyme_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zymenoun

## Earlier version

- zyme in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zyme mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zyme. 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 zyme?

About 0.03occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.0033
1890 | 0.0042
1900 | 0.0048
1910 | 0.0061
1920 | 0.0087
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.018
1950 | 0.023
1960 | 0.026
1970 | 0.027
1980 | 0.027
1990 | 0.028
2000 | 0.029
2010 | 0.025

### How is the noun zyme pronounced?

#### British English

/zʌɪm/

### Where does the noun zyme come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the noun zyme is in the 1880s.

OED's only evidence for zyme is from 1882, in Quain's Dictionary Medicine.

zyme is a borrowing from Greek.

Etymons: Greek ζύμη.

### Nearby entries

1. zygotically, adv. 1915–
2. zygotoblast, n. 1899–
3. zygotoid, n. 1891–
4. zygotomere, n. 1899–
5. -zygous, comb. form
6. zygozoospore, n. 1881–
7. Zyklon, n. 1939–
8. zymad, n. 1885–
9. zymase, n. 1875–
10. zymate, n. 1817–19
11. zyme, n.1882–
12. zymic, adj. 1817–26
13. zymin, n. 1842–
14. zyminized, adj. 1888–
15. zymo-, comb. form
16. zymocyte, n. a1909–
17. zymodeme, n. 1978–
18. zymogen, n. 1877–
19. zymogenetic, adj. 1896–
20. zymogenic, adj. 1884–
21. zymogluconate, n. 1887–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Greek.
Etymon: Greek ζύμη.
< Greek ζύμη leaven.

## Meaning & use

1. 1882–
   A name for the substance or principle causing a zymotic disease: cf. zymosis n.
   1. 1882

      > Corresponding with the adjective zymotic is the substantive zyme.., by which we refer to the poisonous cause of zymotic diseases.

      Quain's Dictionary Medicine 1806
   pathology
   1. infection a1398–1871
      The agency, principle, or material by which (a) disease is transmitted or spread. Obsolete.
   2. leaven a1400–1892
      More generally: any substance that produces (supposed) fermentation; a ferment (ferment, n. 1); a causative agent of a zymotic disease. Obsolete.
   3. virus a1400–
      Medicine. Originally: pus or other discharge produced by an ulcer or wound. Later: a substance produced within the body by a disease, esp. when…
   4. contagion 1603–
      The substance or principle by which a contagious disease is transmitted; = contagium, n.
   5. taint 1623–
      A contaminating, corrupting, or depraving influence, physical or moral; a cause or condition of corruption or decay; an infection.
   6. fomes 1800–
      Medicine. Something that is capable of transferring a disease from one place or individual to another; spec. an object or substance that is…
   7. conductor 1807–
      A medium which transmits or conveys any disease or other condition.
   8. infectant 1832–
      An infecting or infectious agent.
   9. zymin 1842–
      = zyme, n.
   10. contagium 1870–
       spec. ‘The supposed solid or gaseous organized or unorganized substance by which infectious or contagious diseases are communicated’ (New Sydenham So…
   11. noxa 1872–
       A substance, agent, condition, process, or influence that is harmful to the body.
   12. pathogen 1880–
       A microorganism that causes disease. Also figurative.
   13. zyme 1882–
       A name for the substance or principle causing a zymotic disease: cf. zymosis, n.
   14. auto-infectant 1887
       = autointoxicant, n.
   15. insult 1903–
       Medicine. Anything which tends to cause disease in or injury to the body or to disturb normal bodily processes; also, the resulting reaction, lesion…
   16. biological invader 1939–
       a. A pest or pathogen; b. Ecology an organism or species that comes to populate an ecosystem to which it is not native, usually to the detriment of…
   17. bioinvader 1959–
       = biological invader, n. (in either sense).
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zʌɪm/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

zyme typically occurs about 0.03 times per million words in modern written English.

zyme is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 zyme, n., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.0033
1890 | 0.0042
1900 | 0.0048
1910 | 0.0061
1920 | 0.0087
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.018
1950 | 0.023
1960 | 0.026
1970 | 0.027
1980 | 0.027
1990 | 0.028
2000 | 0.029
2010 | 0.025

zyme, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zyme, n. was last modified in December 2024.