zygaenidnoun & adjective
Factsheet
What does the word zygaenid mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word zygaenid. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 word zygaenid?
| 1910 | 0.0002 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0004 |
| 1950 | 0.0005 |
| 1960 | 0.0006 |
| 1970 | 0.0006 |
| 1980 | 0.0007 |
| 1990 | 0.0007 |
| 2000 | 0.0008 |
| 2010 | 0.0009 |
Where does the word zygaenid come from?
Earliest known use
1910s
The earliest known use of the word zygaenid is in the 1910s.
OED's only evidence for zygaenid is from 1913, in Oxford University Gazette.
Nearby entries
- zwieselite, n.1861–
- Zwinglian, n. & adj.1532–
- Zwinglianism, n.1581–
- Zwinglianist, n.1673–1759
- zwischenzug, n.1941–
- zwitterion, n.1906–
- zwitterionic, adj.1946–
- Zydeco, n.1949–
- zygadite, n.1861–
- zygaena, n.1717–
- zygaenid, n. & adj.1913–
- zygaenidan, n.1837–
- zygal, adj.1886–
- zygantrum, n.1854–
- zygapophysial, adj.1870–
- zygapophysis, n.1854–
- zygite, n.1888–
- zygnemaceous, adj.
- zygnemid, n.1887–
- zygnomic, adj.1926–
- zygo-, comb. form
Meaning & use
- 1913–a. n. A member of the family Zygænidæ, typified by the genus Zygæna; b. adj. belonging to the Zygænidæ.Stressed as zyˈgaenid.
- 1913
The Zygaenid moth Procris geryon.
Oxford University Gazette 954/1
the world animals invertebrates phylum Arthropoda class Insecta Heterocera [adjectives] belonging to family Zygaenidae- zygaenid1913–a. n. A member of the family Zygænidæ, typified by the genus Zygæna; b. adj. belonging to the Zygænidæ.
Frequency
zygaenid typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zygaenid 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 of zygaenid, n. & adj., 1910–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910 | 0.0002 |
| 1920 | 0.0004 |
| 1930 | 0.0004 |
| 1940 | 0.0004 |
| 1950 | 0.0005 |
| 1960 | 0.0006 |
| 1970 | 0.0006 |
| 1980 | 0.0007 |
| 1990 | 0.0007 |
| 2000 | 0.0008 |
| 2010 | 0.0009 |