zoophagy, n.

zoophagy
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoophagy_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2017

# zoophagynoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoophagy mean?

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

### How common is the noun zoophagy?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.00006
1890 | 0.00005
1900 | 0.0001
1910 | 0.0001
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0003
1950 | 0.0004
1960 | 0.0005
1970 | 0.0006
1980 | 0.0007
1990 | 0.0007
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0008

### How is the noun zoophagy pronounced?

#### British English

/zuːˈɒfədʒi/
zoo-OFF-uh-jee
/zəʊˈɒfədʒi/
zoh-OFF-uh-jee

#### U.S. English

/zuˈɑfədʒi/
zoo-AH-fuh-jee
/zoʊˈɑfədʒi/
zoh-AH-fuh-jee

### Where does the noun zoophagy come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zoophagy is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoophagy is from 1849, in a dictionary by George J. Adler.

zoophagy is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑phagy comb. form.

### Nearby entries

1. zoonosology, n. 1845–
2. zoonotic, adj. 1877–
3. zoon politikon, n. 1895–
4. zoonters, int. a1763–
5. zoo-organic, adj. 1821–90
6. zoopathologist, n. 1898–
7. zoopathology, n. 1841–
8. zoophagan, n. & adj. 1835–
9. zoophagic, adj. 1903–
10. zoophagous, adj. 1788–
11. zoophagy, n.1849–
12. zoophile, n. 1885–
13. zoophilia, n. 1894–
14. zoophilic, adj. 1884–
15. zoophilism, n. 1867–
16. zoophilist, n. 1829–
17. zoophilite, n. 1879–
18. zoophilous, adj. 1881–
19. zoophily, n. 1830–
20. zoophobia, n. 1888–
21. zoophysical, adj. 1820–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑phagy comb. form.
< zoo- comb. form + ‑phagy comb. form, after zoophagous adj.

In quot. 1849 also after German Zoophagie (1807 or earlier).

Compare post-classical Latin zoophagia (1625 or earlier) and French zoophagie (1836 or earlier).

Compare…
< zoo- comb. form + ‑phagy comb. form, after zoophagous adj.

In quot. 1849 also after German Zoophagie (1807 or earlier).

Compare post-classical Latin zoophagia (1625 or earlier) and French zoophagie (1836 or earlier).

Compare earlier zoophagan n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1849–
   The act or practice of eating animals or animal matter; the use of animals or animal matter as a food source.
   1. 1849

      > Zoophagie, zoophagy.

      G. J. Adler, Dictionary German & English Language 818/1
   2. 1890

      > The practice of eating flesh; zoöphagy; carnivorousness.

      Century Dictionary at Sarcophagy
   3. 1898

      > At all times man have existed who have advocated a vegetable diet in opposition to the general practice of zoophagy.

      University Magazine & Free Review January 338
   4. 1901

      > There is scarcely anything on record of old or modern sien having eternized themselves by zoophagy.

      J. J. M. de Groot, Relig. Syst. China vol. IV. ii. i. xiv. 363
   5. 1936

      > In food habits they [sc. palaeopteroid insects] are, and possibly always were, scavenging and omnivorous with a tendency towards zoophagy.

      R. A. Wardle, General Entomology vi. 142
   6. 1978

      > Zoöphagy in plants is associated with various modifications of the leaf.

      Quarterly Review of Biology vol. 53 170/2
   7. 2000

      > Zoophagy might actually occur in at least a third of the 9800+ described species of Miridae.

      A. G. Wheeler in C. W. Schaefer & A. R. Panizzi, Heteroptera Econ. Importance xxviii. 657

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuːˈɒfədʒi/
zoo-OFF-uh-jee
/zəʊˈɒfədʒi/
zoh-OFF-uh-jee

### U.S. English

/zuˈɑfədʒi/
zoo-AH-fuh-jee
/zoʊˈɑfədʒi/
zoh-AH-fuh-jee

####

##### 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.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- 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.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1800s–
   zoophagy, zoöphagy

## Frequency

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

zoophagy 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 zoophagy, 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 | 0.00006
1890 | 0.00005
1900 | 0.0001
1910 | 0.0001
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0003
1950 | 0.0004
1960 | 0.0005
1970 | 0.0006
1980 | 0.0007
1990 | 0.0007
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0008

zoophagy, n. was first published in June 2017.

zoophagy, n. was last modified in July 2023.