zona reticularis, n.

zona-reticularis
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zona-reticularis_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zona reticularisnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zona reticularis mean?

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

About 0.04occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.0091
1880 | 0.01
1890 | 0.011
1900 | 0.013
1910 | 0.019
1920 | 0.026
1930 | 0.031
1940 | 0.035
1950 | 0.039
1960 | 0.042
1970 | 0.043
1980 | 0.041
1990 | 0.039
2000 | 0.036
2010 | 0.035

### Where does the noun zona reticularis come from?

Earliest known use

1870s

The earliest known use of the noun zona reticularis is in the 1870s.

OED's earliest evidence for zona reticularis is from 1874, in Dunglison's Medical Lexicon.

### Nearby entries

1. zomotherapeutic, adj. 1900–
2. zomotherapy, n. 1900–
3. zona, n. 1706–
4. zona ignea, n. 1818–
5. zonal, adj. 1867–
6. zonality, n. 1909–
7. zonally, adv. 1873–
8. zonal marking, n. 1958–
9. zona pellucida, n. 1841–
10. zona radiata, n. 1881–
11. zona reticularis, n.1874–
12. zonarious, adj. 1656–
13. zonary, adj. 1881–
14. zonate, adj. 1866–
15. zonated, adj. 1803–
16. zonation, n. 1898–
17. zone, n. a1500–
18. zone, v. 1792–
19. zone centre | zone center, n. 1934–
20. zoned, adj. 1662–
21. zone defence | zone defense, n. 1927–

## Etymology

Modern Latin (see fasciculate adj., etc.), coined in German by J. Arnold 1866, in Arch. f. path. Anat. & Physiol. XXXV. 66.

## Meaning & use

1. 1874–
   The middle, outer, and inner layers respectively of the cortex of the adrenal gland.
   1. 1874

      > Zona reticularis... This term has been applied..to the inner layer, as Zona glomerulosa has been to the outer layer, of the stroma of the cortical part of the suprarenal capsule. The main portion he [sc. J. Arnold] calls Zona fasciculata.

      Dunglison's Med. Lexicon (revised edition)
   2. 1883

      > The inner zona, or zona reticularis, composed of smaller or larger groups of polyhedral cells.

      E. Klein, Elements of Histology 341
   3. 1883

      > Next follows the inner zone, or zona reticularis.

      E. Klein, Elements of Histology 341
   4. 1965

      > The cells in the innermost layer are in the form of a reticulum—the zona reticularis.

      J. Lee & F. Knowles, Animal Hormones iv. 70
   anatomy
   1. pelvis 1679–
      Anatomy. The expanded portion at the top of the ureter, into which the kidney tubules open. Also pelvis of the kidney.
   2. renal pelvis 1757–
      = pelvis, n. 2.
   3. suprarenal 1798–
      A suprarenal gland; = adrenal, n. Formerly also: †a suprarenal (adrenal) artery (obsolete).
   4. Malpighian body 1842–
      Anatomy and Zoology. Designating structures described by Malpighi, and others (especially of the kidney)… (a) A glomerulus of the kidney together…
   5. Malpighian capsule 1842–66
      Anatomy and Zoology. Designating structures described by Malpighi, and others (especially of the kidney)… = Bowman's capsule at Bowman, n.³ Obsolete…
   6. Malpighian tuft 1842–78
      Anatomy and Zoology. Designating structures described by Malpighi, and others (especially of the kidney)… A glomerulus of the kidney. Obsolete.
   7. collecting duct 1846–
      A tubular structure that conveys a fluid or other substance away from its place of origin; spec. any of a system of tubules that convey urine…
   8. Malpighian corpuscle 1848–
      Anatomy and Zoology. Designating structures described by Malpighi, and others (especially of the kidney)… = Malpighian body n. at sense 1a.
   9. adrenal 1863–
      An adrenal gland.
   10. zona fasciculata 1874–
   11. zona glomerulosa 1874–
   12. zona reticularis 1874–
       The middle, outer, and inner layers respectively of the cortex of the adrenal gland.
   13. Bowman's capsule 1882–
       Used in the possessive in Bowman's capsule: a Malpighian capsule; Bowman's glands: tubular glands in the olfactory mucous membrane; Bowman's membrane…
   14. Malpighian pyramid 1889–
       Anatomy and Zoology. Designating structures described by Malpighi, and others (especially of the kidney)… A renal pyramid (pyramid, n. I.6a(a)). Now…
   15. fore-kidney 1892–
       = pronephros, n.
   16. adrenal medulla 1900–
       The inner region of the adrenal gland, composed of chromaffin cells of neural crest origin that synthesize and secrete the catecholamines…
   17. spongiocyte 1930–
       Any cell of a type found in the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex, whose cytoplasm contains droplets of lipid which when removed give the…
   18. mesangium 1934–
       The central, intercapillary region of a renal glomerulus, consisting of specialized connective tissue cells and matrix; (also) a region of similar…
   19. lacis 1961–
       Histology. A network of palely staining cells with branching processes, located in the mesangial part of the juxtaglomerular apparatus. Frequently…
   20. lacis cell 1962–
       A type of cell with palely staining cytoplasm and branching processes, found in the mesangial part of the juxtaglomerular apparatus; a mesangial cell.
   21. nephron 1965–
       Any of the numerous functional units of a kidney, consisting of a glomerulus and its associated tubule through which the glomerular filtrate…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zona reticularis typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.

zona reticularis 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 zona reticularis, n., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.0091
1880 | 0.01
1890 | 0.011
1900 | 0.013
1910 | 0.019
1920 | 0.026
1930 | 0.031
1940 | 0.035
1950 | 0.039
1960 | 0.042
1970 | 0.043
1980 | 0.041
1990 | 0.039
2000 | 0.036
2010 | 0.035

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

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